Love Game
by XxTurnUpTheMusicxX
Summary: Ending up on the boy's tennis team they never realized that "love game" was not just referring to tennis. Love really is like a game. A game to find bliss or heartbreak... and some problems. OCxFuji OCxKikumaru
1. Mada Mada Dane

A/N: Here's the rewrite for chapter 1! I have about half of what I had originally posted done so I should have regular updates for a while (once a week), but I make no promises once the next semester starts. I hope you all enjoy this :)

* * *

"Mizu-chan! Wait up!" Sakura shouted to her friend, her dark brown hair that reached her mid back was flowing behind her as she rubbed the sleep out of her lighter brown eyes

"Then hurry up!" Mizuiro shouted back over her shoulder as she stopped walking, her honey colored hair was tucked behind her ears as her chocolate brown eyes stared at her friend boredly

"Mizu-chan's so mean." Sakura pouted when she caught up

"Well we could have been forced to wear the girl's uniform, now that would be mean." Mizuiro said as they continued walking

"Hoi Hoi." Sakura responded not really paying attention

"Kikumaru's rubbing off on you…" Mizuiro said with a sigh "You hang around him too much!"

"Nu-uh!" Sakura said childishly making her friend sigh again and believe that Kikumaru was indeed rubbing off on her. "Mizu-chan? Mizu-chan!" Sakura snapped her fingers in front of Mizuiro's face "Stop spacing out!"

"Stop that!" Mizuiro said annoyed as she took a step back

"Hoi hoi" Sakura said boredly as they started walking again "I'm so glad there's no practice today, I'm so tired." Sakura then sighed in content as she stretched

"You think you can defeat me? Well you are mistaken!" a random guy said pointing at Mizuiro. Sakura and Mizuiro stared at him blankly not recognizing him but knew he did attend Seigaku with them by his uniform.

"Do we know him?" Mizuiro turned to Sakura

"I was hoping you knew who he was." Sakura responded just as confused

"There's word going around the whole school saying you believe you could defeat me, the captain of the karate club" he said still pointing at her

"First of all, who are you? Second, I know I never said anything like that. Third, stop shouting, it's really annoying." Mizuiro said with her arms crossed over her chest

"You must have said it! The whole school is talking about how you think you can defeat me!" he shouted now pointing at the school

"You sure someone didn't just say that?" Sakura asked sighing "If one of us were to say anything like that we would know."

"Yeah… you know how people get when they make rumors." Mizuiro said getting annoyed "Now if you will excuse us, we would like to get to our homeroom in peace"

"Not until I defeat you!" he shouted running towards them since he was still a bit far from them. Sakura sighed in annoyance not wanting to see him even try to hurt her best friend. She pulled Mizuiro out of the way and tripped him before dragging Mizuiro with her to homeroom.

"Bye person whose name I don't know!" Sakura smiled and yelled over her shoulder waving

"I wonder what his problem was…" Mizuiro said looking out the window to see him glaring at her and Sakura before entering the school

"Well… on the side note, at least he'll probably bother me now instead. Which I'd good for me since I've been a little bored lately." Sakura said not really caring

"Don't act like that doesn't matter!" Mizuiro exclaimed "It does matter and how can you not care?"

"What's going on?" Fuji asked as he and Kikumaru walked over to see what Mizuiro seemed worried about

"Nothing important." Sakura yawned

"Nothing important? He's pissed off now! He'll try to get you back and I'm sure he has no problem with hitting a girl!" Mizuiro exclaimed

"Stop worrying so much about it! I can take care of myself as you already know!" Sakura almost yelled back. Without another word she got up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going now?" Mizuiro demanded as the other students watched the two, never really seeing them argue

"Restroom." Sakura said before walking out. Once the door closed Mizuiro let out a frustrated groan

"What's wrong Mizu-chan?" Kikumaru asked confused and worried

"There must be a rumor going around saying that I said I could defeat the captain of the karate club, he continued on and on how the whole school's talking about it and how he would defeat me. So when he ran towards me Sakura pulled me out of the way and tripped him. He's probably so pissed off right now and I'm worried he might actually be able to hurt Kura-chan." Mizuiro explained

"Takahashi, Ryozo" Fuji said after thinking "I believe that's his name."

"I know Kura-chan can take care of herself… I'm just worried still." Mizuiro mumbled putting her head down.

Sakura sighed as she walked out of the girl's restroom. She never liked to argue with Mizuiro, especially since they both can be protective of each other and worry a lot, but Mizuiro knows more than anyone else that Sakura is able to take care of herself.

"Well look who it is…" the voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked up to see Ryozo

"Oh, it's you." Sakura said annoyed and looked at him boredly

"I will defeat you one day Hikari, Sakura!" he declared pointing at her making her wonder if he just liked to point at things

"Ah, really?" Sakura asked "Let me know when that day comes. Now excuse me, classes should start soon and I don't want to be late." Turning she started to walk back to her homeroom before she felt a hand grab her shoulder. She turned around and glared at Ryozo, it surprised him a little since he never saw such a harsh glare from her before.

"Afterschool at the dojo, I'll defeat you" he said before walking away

"Fine, but leave us alone after" Sakura said walking off. It was only a few steps before she let her frustration out on the wall by punching it with her left hand "Itai…" She held her hand in pain, looking at her knuckles she realized it was going to bruise.

"What took you so long?" Mizuiro as Sakura walked in, period one had just started

"Nothing, nothing!" Sakura said waving her hands in front of her "Itai" she held her hand in pain again

"Are you okay Kura-chan?" Kikumaru asked worriedly

"Yeah, I'm okay" Sakura said after taking a deep breath and tried to ignore the pain

"Let me see your hand" Fuji said opening his eyes frightening Sakura a little

"I'm fine, really" Sakura said putting her hand in her pocket

"Sakura just show us your hand" Mizuiro said sternly making Sakura flinch, Mizuiro never says her name and not her nickname "And don't even think about showing us your right hand, left one"

"Is there a problem Tsukioka-san" their teacher asked slightly annoyed at they were talking

"Sakura hurt her hand, may I take her to the infirmary?" Mizuiro asked politely

"I'm very sure Hikari-san…"

"No! I don't want to go!" Sakura exclaimed now hiding behind Kikumaru "That lady is almost as scary as Syu-chan!"

"…can go by herself…" the teacher sighed before allowing Mizuiro to drag Sakura to the infirmary

"Why sensei? Why?" Sakura cried as Mizuiro dragged her out of the classroom once she got Sakura away from the door she was clinging to

"Now back to the lesson" their teacher sighed getting the attention of the class again

"How did you hurt your hand?" Mizuiro sighed dragging Sakura who was now sulking

"I punched the wall" Sakura mumbled

"Why?"

"Takahashi made me mad"

Mizuiro sighed as her grip on Sakura tightened as they neared the infirmary.

"Can I like… not go in?" Sakura asked hopefully

"No. Now come on" Mizuiro said dragging her in.

"Ah Tsukioka-san, Hikari-san. What happened this time?" a women with redish hair that went to her shoulders and kind brown eyes asked turning to them when she heard the door open.

"Sakura hurt herself again by letting her frustration out on a wall Nara-sensei" Mizuiro said as Sakura was hiding behind her

"Really now, Hikari-san how many times must I remind you that is a very unhealthy way to let out your frustration" Nara said sighing while looking at her warily but Sakura could feel the glare hidden behind it making her hide even more behind Mizuiro "Sit over there while I get the bandages and a pack of ice"

"She still scares me" Sakura whispered to Mizuiro quietly as she sat and forced Mizuiro to sit with her

"Now tell me, how bad does this hurt?" Nara said poking Sakura's soon to be bruise rather roughly making her yelp and get even more teary eyed

"You don't have to poke it so hard!" Sakura cried

"Well maybe I wouldn't need to if you didn't punch the wall" Nara said poking it again before wrapping it and putting an ice pack on it "Now I suggest no tennis or PE for a while, not as punishment but because it seems to hurt so much" Sakura sulked as Mizuiro patted her shoulder

"It's not that bad Sakura" Mizuiro said trying to comfort her friend

"Alright back to class you two" Nara said giving Sakura a note for her PE teacher and Ryuzaki

"You know, she was a whole lot nicer only because you were with me" Sakura said glad to be out of that room as Mizuiro laughed

* * *

"Takahashi?" Sakura entered the school's dojo, it wasn't fancy at all but still was nice

"Hello Hikari, Sakura" Ryozo said walking in behind her hoping to scare her a little but frowned when she didn't even flinch as she turned to look at him

"Oh there you are!" Sakura smiled being in a much better mood than that morning. "Listen I'm super sorry about my attitude this morning, I'm not much of a morning person so sometimes the smallest thing annoys me and well… uhh… sometimes this ends up as a result" she held up her bandaged hand "A nice bruise from a wall. So umm yeah… let's just call this off, we both know we're good so how about we keep it like that" Sakura held out her right hand for a hand shake. Ryozo sighed realizing his pride and attitude got the better of him as well.

"Yeah… Sorry about this morning… my pride got the better of me" Ryozo sighed shaking her hand. Sakura smiled more making him blush a little

"Well… I hope we can be great friends then!" Sakura said happily, "Oh yeah, good luck on your upcoming tournament!" she waved as she ran off

"You too!" he smiled and waved back.

Sakura hummed as she skipped to the tennis courts, she had nothing better to do, and did not feel like going home by herself. She sat near the courts under a tree and finished her homework but sighed realizing she had nothing else to do.

"Kuni-chan~!" She yelled over to their captain who stood watching everyone practice. "Can I-"

"No" Tezuka said not even waiting for her to finish her question

"Please?" Sakura asked now standing behind him outside the courts holding the fence with puppy eyes

"No, Nara-sensei said to not let you until that bruise was fully healed" Tezuka said not even turning to her

"B-but" Sakura said now teary eyed

"No"

"Please?"

"No"

"Pretty please?"

Tezuka sighed as his eyebrow twitched. He wanted to threaten her with laps but with the way she was now, she'd do them happily and count it as practice.

"Sakura stop harassing Kunimitsu!" Mizuiro yelled across the courts making Sakura sulk as the other regulars laughed

"Mada mada dane" Ryoma said with a smirk

"Shut up Ochibi!" Sakura yelled at him before sulking some more

"Cheer up Kura" Oishi said giving her a lollipop which she took happily

"Okay!" Sakura said skipping back to her spot under the tree

"Eh? I thought we stopped having the 'Emergency candy for Sakura kit'" Momoshiro said blinking confused

"No… We only stopped until she went to the dentist for her cavity that one time" Mizuiro said "Don't you listen?"

"Sorry senpai" Momoshiro said chuckling nervously as Mizuiro shook her head

A week later Sakura's bruise was gone and since she never had much of a chance to let her energy out Mizuiro was convinced she would have double her normal energy for the next week.

"It's a good thing your bruise is gone, the tournaments in a few days" Mizuiro said as she looked at Sakura's shocked face

"I thought it was next week!" Sakura exclaimed hitting her head mumbling how she was too forgetful

"You did remember about our math test today at least, right?" Mizuiro asked worriedly since math was not one of Sakura's stronger subjects.

"Eh? I forgot about that too!" Sakura exclaimed now bawling thinking she was going to fail. She almost didn't realize that Mizuiro was running up to meet with Fuji and Kikumaru

"Nee-chan! Don't ditch me for the creepy sadistic tensai!" Sakura cried while running to catch up with Mizuiro making Fuji chuckle


	2. Letter

It was two days till the tournament and Inui was making them run laps around. Everyone paled when he brought out his 'special' Inui juice

"I never I want to drink that!" Sakura shouted as she dashed past the boys "I'm so glad I had candy earlier!" She gave everyone a peace sign while sticking her tongue and winking when she was in front of them all

"Sakura!" They all shouted and started to run faster. Mizuiro managed to catch up to her and crossed the finish line first with her. The boys groaned as they crossed after them while most glared at the two girls.

"So… everyone but Sakura-san and Mizuiro-san" Inui handed all the boys a cup "will have to drink this."

"I'm scared…" Kikumaru said shaking as he stared at his cup as Fuji chuckled about to drink it

"It's not that bad" Fuji said

"Wait, Syu-kun don't drink it yet." Mizuiro said digging in her bag before taking out a small test tube with some kind of green syrup in it "Can you try this for me?"

"Nya? What's that Mizu-chan?" Kikumaru asked curiously

"I don't know what to call it, but it's supposed to make Inui juice taste good" Mizuiro said pouring a small amount in Fuji's cup before he drank it.

"It taste sweet… like apples?" Fuji said "You can't even taste the vegetables now"

Mizuiro nodded with a smile "Yep, apple flavor"

"Mizu-chan can I have some?" Kikumaru cried when she was about to put it away

"Of course" she laughed before pouring some in his cup. She was glad no one saw, she didn't have enough for everyone since it was only a test.

Mizuiro yawned as she walked into her house "Tadaima" she mumbled as she walked up to her room to put her bag down

"Mizuiro, you have a letter" her mother said from the kitchen when she walked back downstairs "It's on the table"

"Okay" Mizuiro said picking up the envelope on the table. "Eh, Okaa-chan! Sei-chan's in the hospital!" she exclaimed shocked as she continued to read the letter. After dinner Mizuiro finished her homework and then called Sakura

"Moshi moshi?" she heard on the other end

"Kura-chan, it's me"

"Oh hi Nee-chan!"

"Guess who I got a letter from"

"Umm… The emperor of Japan?"

"What? No! I got a letter from Sei-chan!"

"…Sei-chan? Oh right! Your cousin. Doesn't he go to Rikkadai?"

"Yeah, I got a letter from him today. He's in the hospital. There's no practice tomorrow right?"

"Umm… Let me check" Mizuiro could hear a shuffling of papers on the phone and realized that Sakura must've misplaced her calendar again since she never had a proper place to put it "Nope, no practice tomorrow since the tournament's the day after"

"I think I'm going to see him tomorrow then."

"Okay, ah I need to go, mom's calling me down for dinner"

"Okay, baibai"

"Hoi hoi!"

* * *

"Sakura! Give it back!" Mizuiro was yelling at Sakura for stealing her lunch. Sakura laughed, she loved to give Mizuiro a hard time once in a while claiming that Mizuiro doesn't always have as much fun as she should "Sakura!"

"Nya! Can't catch me!" Sakura laughed while jumping over a desk. Mizuiro ran around the desk but slipped on a banana peel that a student had left. It caused her to slip and fall forward in Fuji's direction. She gasped as she knocked him over and they both ended up on the floor

"Hoi?" Kikumaru said turning in the direction he heard a thud as Sakura stopped giggling and stared in shock at her two friends on the floor.

They had accidently kissed.

"I'm so sorry Syu-kun, I was being a klutz and this happens…" Mizuiro said after she got off him, blushing

"It's okay, it was an accident" Fuji replied with a smile

Sakura continued to just stare and blink, not believing what had happened.

"Oh… my… God…" she said after a moment

"Stop staring!" Mizuiro exclaimed still blushing as Fuji chuckled and patted her head when she refused to look up.

* * *

The news of the accidental kiss spread around the school fast, almost all of Fuji's fan girls were glaring at Mizuiro thinking that she had done it on purpose. Sakura would scare them all away with her own glare once she got tired of all the glares while they walked to the courts with Kikumaru and Fuji in an awkward silence.

Sakura decided to break the silence, so she cleared her throat making them all look at her

"So Mi-chan, was that your first kiss?" Sakura asked as she made a pretend mic with her fist. Holding out her 'mic' to Mizuiro she hoped for an answer, Mizuiro took a deep breath while Sakura prepared for an answer. Would it be yes or no?

"No comment" was all Mizuiro said as Sakura stumbled surprise

"Nevermind then…" Sakura mumbled as they entered the courts. Receiving lots of stares Sakura's right eye twitch "Stop staring before you all find yourselves face first on the ground!" she then yelled annoyed making everyone hurry back to what they were doing as Mizuiro blushed in embarrassment. Soon Ryuzaki walked in with Tezuka.

"Tomorrow is the tournament so there is no practice today, I expect all of you to take it easy. Don't' get sick and don't get hurt either. Most of all, you don't want to create a disturbance like today"

"Eh? Ryuzaki-sensei you heard about it too?" Mizuiro asked even more embarrassed

"Well since it involved the tennis club, I know about it." Ryuzaki chuckled as she saw Mizuiro blush even more "Well, that's all. Dismissed."

"Mou… Why did this have to happen?" Mizuiro cried as they walked of the courts as Fuji tried to comfort but it only made a more awkward feeling for her

"Well, I need to go home and do some chores. See you guys tomorrow" Sakura said before skipping off

Everyone went their separate ways and Fuji decided to go along with Mizuiro. Mizuiro was still slightly blushing as Fuji walked next to her.

"I'm really sorry about what happened earlier" Mizuiro said as Fuji chuckled

"It's really alright" he said as she looked at him "really. Let's just put it all behind us now" Mizuiro sighed and agreed. "So where exactly are we going?" he asked as they neared a flower shop near the hospital

"To visit my cousin" Mizuiro said "I'm sure you've heard of him. Yukimura, Seiichi"

"The captain of Rikkaidai is your cousin?" Fuji asked surprised

"Yup, my mom and his mom are sisters so I used to see him when aunty Chieko came over when we were little. When I first saw him I thought he was a girl" she laughed a little at the last part.

"So what kind of flowers are you looking for?" Fuji asked as he watched Mizuiro look at all the flowers

"Ah, here they are" Mizuiro smiled as she walked over to the white roses "Sei-chan always liked white roses, I like them too. I think they represent purity and innocent love" Mizuiro wanted to buy ten but Fuji stopped her because ten might not fit a vase so she settled with five. After paying Mizuiro walked a little faster to the hospital since she never had the chance to see her cousin since they were both busy with tennis.

Mizuiro was able to find the room very quickly and knocked on the door.

"Come in" she heard his voice say before she opened the door "Mizu-chan" he then said surprised to see his cousin

"I got your letter" She smiled "and I brought flowers"

"Thank you" he smiled "So who is your friend?"

"Oh how could I forget" she laughed "This is Fuji, Syusuke. Syu-kun this is my cousin Yukimura, Seiichi"

"Nice to meet you" Yukimura said with a polite smile

"Nice to meet you as well" Fuji replied with a polite smile as well

"I'm going to put these flowers in water, you guys can talk" Mizuiro said and she took a vase and walked out

"You like her don't you?" Yukimura said as soon as his cousin left the room

"Ah, you can tell? I hope it's not too obvious" Fuji chuckled

"It's not" Yukimura replied leaning back a little "I just used to watch out for her a lot when we were little so I can tell easily when a boy likes her"

"Well that's good, the last thing I need is Sakura bugging me about it" Fuji said with a small chuckle

"Ah yes. Well that is Kura-chan for you." Yukimura said chuckling as he remembered the first time he met Sakura

* * *

_They were ten years old at the time, Yukimura was staying over at Mizuiro's during a break because his parents were on a trip. One thing he liked while he was there was to be able to play tennis with his cousin. At that time they were pretty much equal in play which led to long matches since they both didn't want to give up._

"_Mizuiro! Sakura-chan is here!" they heard from their spot on the couch where they were watching TV._

"_Mizu-chan!" Sakura said happily and started to cling to Mizuiro who quickly tried to get her off "Eh… Is this your boyfriend?" she then asked realizing his presence "Cause if he is he has to go through me to get you first" she then said clinging tighter as Mizuiro laughed at the thought of her dating her cousin_

"_Kura-chan, this is my cousin Yukimura, Seiichi. Sei-chan this is my best friend Hikari, Sakura" Mizuiro said between laughing_

"_Eh? Really?" Sakura said shocked finally letting go of Mizuiro as Yukimura nodded_

"_Nice to meet you Sakura-san" he said politely_

"_You can call me Kura-chan" Sakura smiled_

"_Okay Kura-chan, you can call me Sei-chan then" he replied but leaned back slightly as Sakura got right in front of his face before she started laughing and fell off the couch_

"_Are you okay Kura-chan" Mizuiro asked worried her friend had gone insane_

"_Girl!" she laughed from the floor "He could pass as a girl!" They started to laugh with her knowing how true what she said was_

* * *

"So when do you plan on telling her?" Yukimura then asked

"Saa… I'm not sure. I don't even know how she feels towards me" Fuji replied after some thought

"Well… All I can say is that if you hurt her I'm sending Kura-chan after you" Yukimura laughed


	3. Won't Be Easy

Merry Christmas everyone~!

I think this is my favorite chapter that I've rewritten so far so I hope you enjoy it, especially at the end :)

* * *

"Mi-chan! I'm so bored!" Sakura whined on the phone

"What do you want me to do about it?" she heard Mizuiro reply

"Let's go play street tennis!" Sakura said happily

"Alright" Mizuiro sighed since she was bored as well

"Okay! I'll meet you there!" Sakura said happily before she hung up. It's been a while for them since they had played street tennis so they had a better chance of not being recognized.

"Sakura, where are you going? It's getting pretty late" Sakura's mother asked worriedly as she came home from work to see her daughter about to walk out with her tennis racquet

"Street tennis!" Sakura smiled "I promise to not stay out too late" Sakura said giving her mother puppy eyes to let her go out

"Alright" her mother sighed as Sakura cheered

"Arigatou Okaa-chan!" Sakura grinned and kissed her mother on the cheek before leaving

* * *

"Wow, it's been so long since we've been here!" Sakura exclaimed as she hugged her racquet "Ah, ne Mi-chan look! It's Momo-chan and Ochibi!" she pointed at her team mates as they walked over

"Haven't seen your faces here before, this your first time?" someone asked Momoshiro and Ryoma

"Yeah" Momoshiro answered

"More people coming here eh?" the guy asked his friend

"And we only have one court too" his friend said back "Do you know the rules for this place?"

"Not really" Momoshiro answered not knowing that this place had rules

"Okay well, I'll tell you" he said picking up balls with his racquet "It's the same as a match, after you lose one game it'll shift to the next pair. It's like that."

"Sounds interesting" Momoshiro said before him and Ryoma tried to figure out who should go first

"Momo-chan, Ochibi it's doubles only!" Sakura said appearing behind them which surprised them

"Eh Sakura-senpai" Momoshiro jumped "Mizuiro-senpai, what are you guys doing here?"

"We got bored" Mizuiro answered handing Sakura back her chocolate milkshake

"But you guys can go first" Sakura smiled "Doubles can be fun, you should try it!"

* * *

Mizuiro frowned as she watched them, there were a few openings that wouldn't cause them too much trouble since they could cover for each other but there was a major one that made her worried.

"They're not covering the middle well" Sakura mumbled and sighed quietly as she went to throw away her finished milkshake

"Their opponents didn't notice it earlier… but those two" Mizuiro looked at the two guys from earlier "they notice it… clearly"

"They lost already, ne?" Sakura asked as Mizuiro sighed as their kouhai's started to argue

"30-love"

"40-love"

"Game set! Game won by Fukawa-Izumi pair!"

"I guess it's our turn" Sakura grinned as she skipped on the court

"A couple of girls? This should be easy" one of them said as people yelled at Momoshiro and Ryoma after Mizuiro asked them to get off the court. Sakura's eye twitched as she got annoyed by the shouting and rude comments about her kouhais

"Don't hurt them… don't hurt them…" Sakura repeated to herself quietly before giving up "Oi! Momoshiro, Echizen! Just get off the court so I can shut them up!" Sakura almost yelled

"Uh, sure Sakura-senpai" Momoshiro smiled nervously as he pushed Ryoma off the court

"What was that for?" Ryoma asked once they were at the sidelines

"You don't want to be in Sakura-senpai's way when she mad" Momoshiro laughed nervously

"I'm not going to hold back now" Sakura said as her grip on the tennis ball tightened as they got in position. Mizuiro sighed before just sitting on the ground "Ah, okay" Sakura smiled getting the hint. She grinned more as she served the ball and it 'disappeared' over the net and 'reappeared' as it bounced right before the boundary line

"15-love"

"30-love"

"40-love"

"Game set! Game won by Tsukiko-Hikari pair"

Sakura grinned as Mizuiro stood up and dusted off her shorts.

"We still need a name for that serve don't we?" Mizuiro asked as they just walked off the court

"Yeah" Sakura answered "Ah, I need to go home or Okaa-chan will kill me!" Sakura then said running off "See you tomorrow!"

* * *

"Mi-chan!" Sakura waved to her friend as she ran to the bus stop "Ohayou!"

"Ohayou!" Mizuiro smiled back

"I can't believe it's regionals already!" Sakura jumped up and down excitedly as the bus arrived

"Me too, I hope Ryuzaki actually put us together" Mizuiro replied as they got on the bus"It's like we never get to play together anymore."

"I know right? I don't get it! You're my doubles partner but it feels like we barely play together!" Sakura complained as they took their seats

"I wonder what the point is for us to be on the boy's tennis team when we barely get to play sometimes…" Mizuiro wondered out loud to herself causing Sakura to sulk since she wanted to play more in tournaments.

"Mostly because we're too good and could hurt the other girls on the girl's tennis team…" Sakura grumbled as Oishi and Tezuka stepped on the bus

"Ohayou!" Mizuiro said waving over to them

"Ah, ohayou Mizuiro, Kura-chan" Oishi smiled as Tezuka just nodded to them

"Ohayou" Sakura sniffed as she looked out the window

"What's wrong with her?" Oishi asked as he gave Sakura a lollipop which she then accepted happily

"She was sulking about how we never seem to play much or together in tournaments" Mizuiro replied with a sigh

"I'm sure you'll play with Mizuiro again soon Kura-chan" Oishi said patting her head before sitting across from her

"You really think so?" Sakura asked with stars in her eyes and the stick of her lollipop hanging out of her mouth

"Of course" Oishi chuckled

"Kuni-chan! You think so too?" Sakura asked turning to the captain

"Ah" Tezuka replied with a nod before turning away

"I'm so happy now!" Sakura grinned swaying in her seat happily as Mizuiro shook her head giggling

Soon they were at the tournament walking over to the registration table. Sakura couldn't couldn't help but point out every Tezuka fan they walked by making Mizuiro laugh. Showing their permission form, Mizuiro and Sakura were allowed to participate with the boys.

"Seems like we don't get to play doubles yet…" Mizuiro said looking over to see who was playing "Ah, but you're playing instead of Kaidoh" she then turned to Sakura

"Really?" Sakura shouted surprised

"Yes and now it's your turn so get on the court!" Ryuzaki shouted behind her

"Eh?" Sakura replied looking at the court to see Momoshiro and Ryoma walking off the court "Who won?"

"Us of course!" Momoshiro replied happily as they walked past each other

"Go Kura-chan!" Kikumaru shouted as Sakura smiled and waved back happily

"Eh? A girl? This should be easy!" her opponent said with a smirk

"Are you saying guys are better?" Sakura glared at her opponent harshly

"Of course!" her opponent replied ignoring her stare "Girls just need to look pretty"

"Uh oh… he's doomed" Mizuiro said feeling slightly sorry for the guy

"That's the girl from last night!" Izumi exclaimed to his teammates

"Seigaku to serve"

"Just so you know, I don't go easy on people who look down on others" Sakura said as she served a weak serve

"Is that all you got?" her opponent asked

"Not at all!" Sakura smirk returning the ball. Everyone gasped as the ball seemed to disappear over the net and reappear by the boundary line.

"15-love"

"30-love"

"Game set! Game and match won by Hikari!" was heard 10 minutes later. Sakura couldn't help but laugh as her opponent stomped off angrily after they shook hands

* * *

"I went to scout out Fudomine's match" Inui said walking over to the group after they defeated the last school. "They're a completely different from last year. All the members are new regulars, except the second year captain. The key factor of their success is the masterful leadership of their captain Tachibana Kippei. Also, the six unknown 2nd year members beat Kakinoki in straight sets."

"Cool!" Sakura exclaimed unaffected of the face that they should be at least slightly worried

"The finals… Don't seem to be easy" Fuji said quietly

"But if it's Seigaku there should be no problem against a beginner. We will crush them and win the tournament!" Horio stated like it was a fact

"I wouldn't continue if I were you Horio" Mizuiro sighed as Sakura pointed behind him

"Why senpai?" he asked as he turned around to see what Sakura was pointing at "Oh… Fudomine?"

"Are you Tezuka from Seigaku? I'm captain Tachibana from Fudomine" Tachibana said introducing himself "Let's have a good match."

"Hi I'm Sakura!" Sakura smiled as she jumped out from behind Tezuka "It's nice to meet you!"

Everyone couldn't help but think that Sakura was always oblivious to any tense or serious atmosphere

"Uh, nice to meet you too" Tachibana replied chuckling "I'll see you all later!" he then said as he and his team left

"Bye!" Sakura waved happily "…What?" she then asked as she turned to her team who just stared at her

"Nothing, nothing at all Kura-chan" Mizuiro sighed as she shook her head

"Then let's go celebrate our victory at Taka-chan's family restaurant!" Sakura cheered trying to drag everyone as they all laughed

* * *

Even though Sakura was the most excited about going to eat sushi and celebrate with her team she ended up having a quick nap at the table the she was sharing with Fuji, Kikumaru and Mizuiro. She somehow even managed to continue sleeping through all the noise the team was making. She awoke yawning as Ryoma finally arrived. As he quickly shut the door and turned around Momoshiro opened it as quickly and dragged him in.

"What is this?" Ryoma asked as he sat down

"Ochibi's here!" Sakura cheered before putting her head back down on the table as Fuji chuckled

"What do you want to eat first?" Kawamura asked as he handed Ryoma his drink "This place is run by my dad. When he heard that we won, he closed the shop and made it our celebratory party."

"Kaidoh! You know I like anago!" Kikumaru exclaimed as Kaidoh stole his "Ah, eating rolls by yourself, that's so selfish Fuji! Ah, look over there Fuji" he then pointed in another direction.

"Huh?" Fuji sounded as he turned away. Kikumaru grinned and took one and happily put it in his mouth

"What are you eating?" Kikumaru exclaimed covering his mouth as Sakura finally woke up completely

"Wasabi sushi" Fuji replied smiling. Mizuiro laughed, she had a feeling that Fuji had looked away just to see Kikumaru's reaction.

"Tea! Tea!" Kikumaru cried out as Sakura handed him her cup as she laughed

"Arigatou!" he cried as he drank it all

After their celebration Sakura was left to walk back home with Kikumaru since Mizuiro had left earlier due to a phone call from her mother and they had just walked past Fuji's house

"Ah Eiji-chan! Let's head to the park for a bit!" Sakura smiled as she took his hand and ran across the street with his to the park they were walking by. Kikumaru laughed, he too was thinking about the park.

"Push me on the swing!" Sakura said childishly as she let go of his hand and ran over to the swing set.

"Hoi hoi!" Kikumaru laughed as he ran after her and began to push her once she sat down

"Higher!" Sakura laughed

Their tennis equipment laid almost forgotten as they both started to swing next to each other. For a few hours they just stayed on the swing set laughing.

"Ne Eiji-chan" Sakura said as she stopped swinging

"Hm?" he replied as he stopped as well

"Do you like anyone?" she asked curiously

"Maybe" he blushed as he looked away

"Who?" Sakura asked excitedly

"I'm not telling!" Kikumaru said as he started to swing again

"Why?" Sakura asked as she started to swing again

"Do you like anyone Kura-chan?" Kikumaru asked trying to change it away from him

"Un" Sakura blushed as she turned away nodding, her grip tightening on the chains for the swing "But I don't know if I should tell him"

"Why not?" he asked turning to look at her

"I don't know if he likes me the same way, we've been friends for so long and I don't want to ruin or make it awkward" Sakura frowned a little

"Sometimes you should take a risk, maybe he likes you too" Kikumaru frowned as he looked away

"You think?" She asked looking over at him

"Hoi! Any guy would be lucky to have someone like you Kura-chan!" Kikumaru smiled at her

"Then… umm" Sakura hesitated as she blushed, her grip on the chains that loosened on the chains tightened again

"Hm?" Kikumaru sounded as he looked over at her confused

"Eto… a-ano… t-the guy I-I l-like…" Sakura stuttered "Is … you." Kikumaru stared at her in shock. "I really do understand if you don't like me the same way, I mean, we're really close friends but I just started to really like you for a while and was scared to tell you but you did say I should take a risk so I'm taking it." She then rambled quickly not noticing that Kikumaru had stood up from his swing and stood in front of her

"Kura-chan"

"I just think you're really cute and funny and kind and caring and cute oh wait I said that already didn't I? Oh no I'm rambling! I'm sorry I can't help it"

"Kura-chan"

"I just hope that nothing changes if you don't like me the same way, I really treasure the friendship I have with you as much as I treasure my friendship with Nee-chan and-"

Kikumaru chuckled as he gripped the chain above her hands and bent down so he was at eye level with her and kissed her cheek shocking her into stopping her ramble

"Eiji-chan…" She looked up at him when he pulled away and smiled down at her

"I really like you too Kura-chan" he smiled and lent down and kissed her on the lips. Sakura couldn't help but smile. It was her first kiss and it was innocent and childish, but most of all, it was with the boy she fell hard for. The boy she felt she had to hide her feelings from but ended up only needing to tell it too.

"Daisuki da yo" she said happily as they smiled at each other with their foreheads together

"Daisuki da yo" he repeated to her as he smiled


	4. Not Normal

I meant for this to be uploaded last weekend, but it somehow slipped my mind... Sorry. So to make up for it, two chapters will be uploaded today! It's currently 1:23AM and I'm going to see a movie with my friends later on during the day so the next chapter will be uploaded when I get home. Oh, has anyone else seen the New Prince of Tennis anime? I read part of the manga for it, but I'm terrible when it comes to manga. I never finish it, so you won't believe how happy I was when my best friend (who knows I love Prince of Tennis but doesn't care much about it herself) told me and gave me a link to the first episode. Ahh second episode should be out like... today? Soon? I'm not good with dates if you haven't noticed...

Okay before I ramble, here's chapter 4. I hope you all enjoy it and for my older readers- I really hope you're all enjoying the changes I made!

* * *

Sakura giggled as she waved to Kikumaru while her and Mizuiro walked by. Mizuiro just gave her a weird look, since the other day Sakura has been in a better mood than normal and it freaking her out.

"Hoi hoi Kura-chan!" Kikumaru waved back happily

"Why are you in such a good mood? This isn't normal." Mizuiro stated as she eyed her best friend while they walked by a bush taking a small glance at the shine of a camera lens.

"Nothing" Sakura giggled as they switched their rackets to their left hand so other schools would get wrong data on them.

"Something's up, tell me" Mizuiro laughed "I've never seen you in such a good mood"

"Hmm… Maybe I'll tell you later then, well more like I should tell you" Sakura said with a smile as Mizuiro shook her head

"We promised to tell each other everything and anything, so you better tell me" Mizuiro laughed still shaking her head

"Hoi hoi" Sakura replied as they began to practice

When practice was about to end Sakura noticed that the rest of the other school's spies were gone and smiled as she switched back to her right hand to return the last ball.

"Woo we're done for the day!" Sakura cheered as she ran off the court to change back to her uniform in the girl's locker room.

"Kura-chan, lets go play some street tennis" Mizuiro said when she walked in after Sakura

"Hm?" Sakura sounded as she turned to her after she put on her uniform "Bored?"

"A little, and I know you are as well" Mizuiro replied "Besides you have to tell me what's up"

"I was hoping you would forget…" Sakura grumbled to herself

"You know I don't forget easily" Mizuiro laughed as Sakura nodded

"I can always hope" Sakura mumbled as they walked out together and told Fuji and Kikumaru that they were going out before going home. Sakura hummed happily as they ran up the stairs, ignoring Mizuiro's yelling at her to slow down.

"Ah, that's Momo-chan and Kudomine's Kamio" Mizuiro said once she reached the top and could see the courts

"Hmm I wonder what they're doing" Sakura said as they walked up to the courts to find Tachibana Ann and Gyokurin's Izumi and Fukawa

"Isn't that Hyoutei Kura-chan?" Mizuiro asked as she looked at the people Momoshiro and Kamio were playing against in doubles

"Yeah, I heard they're the number one seed in the regionals." Sakura nodded "Wait, doesn't Yu-chan go there?" Mizuiro nodded as Sakura whined realizing that they wouldn't be able to play. Mizuiro just sighed as she shook her head feeling a headache coming

"Well this is definitely better than the Momo-Echizen pair" Mizuiro said as she observed the match

"Wow they actually won!" Sakura said happily even though she knew it was only because the dark grey haired guy told the bigger guy to stop. When the guy with the dark guy hair introduced himself as Atobe Keigo, Sakura blinked a few times.

"Atobe?" Mizuiro mumbled to herself knowing she heard the name a few times before

"I know!" Sakura shouted causing everyone to stare at her "He's the guy in Yu-chan's class!" Mizuiro shook her head while everyone stared at Sakura like she was crazy

"Which one? There's Yuushi and Yuri" Mizuiro asked

"Aren't they both in his class?" Sakura asked in return

"So how do you address them then?" Mizuiro asked expecting a weird answer

"Well I call Yuushi Yuu-kun and Yuri Yu-chan" Sakura smiled happily like it was an awesome idea

"They sound the same…" Mizuiro sighed shaking her head again

"No it doesn't!" Sakura shouted as everyone stared at them when they began to bicker if it sounded the same or not

"How do you know Oshitari and Suzuki?" Atobe asked surprised that they knew not one, but two Hyoutei students

"Well…" Sakura started as she was about to go through the whole story about how they met the two but Mizuiro hand covered her mouth giving Sakura an annoyed glance

"We don't want to hear the whole story Kura-chan" Mizuiro sighed "Yuri went to Seigaku for her first year and she was in our class so we became friends quickly. We met Yuushi we went on a trip to Kansai when we were little."

"You always say the quick and boring way" Sakura grumbled when Mizuiro took her hand off her mouth

"Eh? It's this late already? I need to go, tell Yuushi and Yuri that Mizu-chan and Kura-chan said hi!" Mizuiro said ignoring Sakura's comment before leaving. Sakura snickered, Mizuiro had forgotten to question her.

* * *

"Regulars gather around!" Ryuzaki called to the team. Inui explained what they had to do for their special training and what everyone was. Kaidoh, Fuji and Oishi were counter punchers, Kawamura and Momo were aggressive baseliners, Kikumaru and Mizuiro were serve and volley, Tezuka, Ryoma and Sakura were all rounders. Everyone panicked when they heard that they would have to drink the Inui Juice if they failed.

"First Match: full court Tsukioka, half court Hikari"

"I'm not losing to you Mi-chan!" Sakura declared as she pointed her racket Mizuiro with a serious look on her face

"We'll see about that!" Mizuiro replied as Inui served the ball saying it would be a disadvantage for one of them to serve. After a few minutes Mizuiro won with a drop shot. Sakura sulked as she grabbed the cup from Inui who's glasses shined evilly in the light

"Did you bring the anti-formula Mizu-chan?" Sakura asked as she stared at the evil drink thinking she just saw a bubble from it.

"No, sorry" Mizuiro replied with a frown "I didn't think we would need it today"

Sakura gulped uneasily before she downed the drink and pretended to faint making everyone else freak out.

"Fooled you!" Sakura said playfully as she jumped back up giving everyone a peace sign but no one relaxed knowing that half of them would have to drink it still. After they're special training was over Ryuzaki began to announce the line up for their match against St. Rudolph

"So we're going to play against Ta-chan soon?" Sakura asked curiously as she turned to Fuji and Mizuiro

"Yeah" Mizuiro replied

"Oh I can't wait to see little Ta-chan again!" Sakura exclaimed happily as they walked off the court before running over to Kikumaru and jumped on his back

"Kura-chan!" he laughed as Sakura giggled

"So I was thinking I would spend some free time with you on Sunday" Sakura whispered not wanting everyone else to hear

"Of course!" Kikumaru smiled as he stopped in front of the boy's locker room

"Okay I'll talk to you later!" Sakura smiled as she jumped off his back and ran off to the girl's locker room to change


	5. Thunder

Sakura hummed happily as she skipped down the stairs to get the mail. She was going to be spending the day with Kikumaru and she was very excited.

"Thanks Sakura" her mom said taking at quick glance through the mail "Oh here's one for you"

"Really?" she asked as she took the envelope from her mother "Nii-chan?" she said quietly to herself as she looked at the return address "Okaa-chan, he's coming back for a week in about a month!"

"Really?" her mother smiled "That's wonderful, we haven't seen him since last year"

Sakura smiled back, her parents had divorced when she was little and her brother, Ryuu, moved to America to live with their father after he graduated from high school. He'd come to Japan every time he had a break to visit them. Ryuu was always very protective of Sakura which resulted in less guy friends and a book thrown at his face later. Sakura frowned slightly though, she would have to keep her relationship with Kikumaru a secret from him.

"Well I'm going to go now Okaa-chan" Sakura smiled as she put the letter on the table

"Alright, have fun" her mother replied "Don't stay out too late now"

"Hoi hoi!" she replied walking out the door

* * *

Sakura laughed as she walked around with Kikumaru. Her mother, after hearing about her relationship with Kikumaru, had forced her into a white summer dress and sandals.

"It's not that funny" Kikumaru complained after telling her how his mother demanded that she come over for questioning

"It is, she knows me well enough and your siblings know me better" Sakura laughed

"I just hope I don't have to go through that with your brother" Kikumaru flinched at the thought

"Then we just have to keep it a secret" Sakura laughed as she jumped up to kiss his cheek

"Is there any where you really want to go?" he asked her

"Not really" Sakura replied shrugging "I just wanted to spend time with you without anyone else"

"I know where we can go" he smiled taking her hand and leading the way to a small café

"I've never seen this place before" Sakura said in surprise

"It just opened last month" he replied "My aunt owns it"

"Eiji! I didn't know you were coming today" a woman with red hair that went to her hips and kind green eyes smiled "Oh and with such a cute girl too! Oh I know, this must be Sakura! My sister told me so much about you!"

"Yes I am" Sakura blushed

"Get whatever you like, it's on the house" his aunt smiled

"Thanks so much Oba-chan!" Kikumaru smiled as they took a seat by a window

"She's so nice, but I can't believe your mom is telling everyone about me already" Sakura blushed as she hid her face in her menu

"Well my family really likes you" Kikumaru laughed

"But it's embarrassing" Sakura complained hiding her blushing face more in her menu as Kikumaru laughed

"So what would you two like?" his aunt came back with a notepad

* * *

"Oh no, it looks like it's going to rain" Sakura said worriedly as they were about to leave, especially when she could hear thunder in the distance

"Let's go back to my house, it's closer" Kikumaru said as they started to run to his house

When they reached his house it had started to rain hard.

"Ahh I guess I'm not going home soon" Sakura sighed but smiled as she looked up at Kikumaru "Well at least I get to spend more time with you"

Entering the house they were greeted by most of Kikumaru's siblings who all made a comment about Sakura in a dress.

"The world is ending"

"Aww she's so cute"

"You should wear more dresses Sakura!"

"That can't be Sakura! She refuses to wear a dress!"

Sakura sighed in relief after everyone went back to their own thing while they went to watch TV in the living room. With a quick call to her mother, Sakura snuggled against Kikumaru as they skipped through channels before the electricity went out. Sakura flinched when thunder sounded before shaking.

"Are you guys alright?" one of his older sisters asked "What's wrong with Sakura"

"Her ears are a bit more sensitive than a normal person's" Kikumaru explained as he helped cover Sakura's ears "So she's scared of thunder" His older sister sat next to Sakura and started to rub her back to try calm her as she started crying.

* * *

Sakura had cried herself to sleep during the storm but Kikumaru refused to leave her side and made sure that one of his sisters was with her if he needed to leave. Rain was lightly falling when Sakura woke up leaning against Kikumaru who was now sleeping, both of them was wrapped up in a blanket. The power had not come back on but a small battery powered lamp lit up the living room.

"Eiji-chan?" She said quietly as she poked his cheek

"Huh?" he yawned as he woke up realizing he fell asleep "Ah gomen! I fell asleep!"

"It's okay" Sakura giggled as she hugged him "Arigatou"

"For what?"

"Staying with me"


	6. Good Luck

A few matches passed by quickly and soon they found themselves against Hyoutei.

"Ichiro-chan's late" Sakura said confused as she looked at the time while eating a chocolate bar

"He could've got lost…" Kikumaru tried to reason

"No, the kantou tournament was held here last year also" Inui stated

"Could he be helping some pregnant woman about to give birth?" Ryoma asked causing Sakura to giggle

"That's the excuse you used last time!" Kikumaru exclaimed

"I guess we'll enter without him…" Ryuzaki sighed

* * *

"Yuu-kun! Yay we get to play against Yuu-kun!" Sakura shouted happily causing both schools to be surprised at her hyperness while Hyoutei mainly wondered why there were girls on the boys' team.

"Nice to see you too Sakura-chan" Oshitari smiled politely

"I told you it's Kura-chan!" Sakura said childishly

"Face it Kura-chan, he won't call you Kura-chan" Mizuiro sighed

"Yuushi, isn't she close to Kikumaru? The one that was renowned for his acrobatics?" Gakuto asked "I'm going to crush him" he then declared pointing at Sakura

"I'll crush you before that happens" Sakura glared angrily at him

"One set match, Seigaku's Hikari to serve!"

Smiling Sakura threw the ball up and hit it. When it went over the net it disappeared and reappeared by the line showing she was serious causing almost everyone to be surprised.

"15-love" was heard through the silence

"Ne Yuu-kun I perfected it during my freshman year" Sakura smiled while holding up a peace sign. Continuing to use the same serve she was able to win a game.

"1 game - all"

Oshitari hit a regular serve and as Mizuiro returned it Sakura was standing at the middle of the base line waiting for Mizuiro to let her hit the ball. Sakura focused on looking for the signal Mizuiro would give her to run up to the net with her. As soon as she saw the signal, she ran up to the net after she hit the ball back. Surprised, Gakuto lobbed the ball as Sakura stuck out her tongue as both her and Mizuiro "disappeared" and "reappeared" as Sakura was prepared to smash the ball.

"Just kidding!" Sakura smiled as she allowed the ball to go past her letting Mizuiro hit the ball back to the middle of the court.

"Love-15"

It wasn't long till they won that game as well.

"Mi-chan, don't use that serve" Sakura said quietly. Mizuiro smiled in return, Sakura had a plan running through her head. Sakura was more of a person to follow a plan rather than make them, but she usually would think and predict everything through so Mizuiro never had to worry. After serving, Mizuiro ran up to the net with Sakura.

"That trick won't work again!" Oshitari smirked as he hit it straight

"Sorry Yuu-kun!" Mizuiro smiled as she returned the ball allowing Gakuto to lob it

"Don't forget about me!" Sakura laughed as she seem to reappear and returned the ball. Oshitari just smirked and used Higuma Otoshi. Mizuiro returned a smirk and shook her head as Sakura did a flip to return the ball. Shocked, they didn't return the ball.

"15-Love"

"Sorry Yuu-kun, but I can't let you win this time!" Sakura smiled before glaring at Gakuto. Mizuiro glanced at Sakura noticing she wasn't allowing her anger to take control of her game. When they had became friends with Oshitari, Sakura had always lost. This was the first time they played against each other in doubles and to them, it was more fun than singles.

* * *

"Game and match to Seigaku, 6 games to 4!" was heard half an hour later

"Ahh I'm so tired now" Sakura cried out before tripping and landing flat on her face "…Maybe I'll just stay down here"

"Come on Kura-chan" Mizuiro sighed helping Sakura sit up before Kikumaru carried her off the court. Looking over Kikumaru's shoulder she could see Oshitari and Gakuto being lectured by their coach.

"Yuu-kun…" Sakura mumbled before falling asleep against Kikumaru's shoulder.

"Well… this is a first in a while…" Mizuiro sighed

"What is?" one of the freshmen asked

"Kura-chan falling asleep after a match" Mizuiro replied "Sakura is normally fine till about the time we go back home"

Oishi helped lay out a picnic blanket on the ground that Sakura carried with her in case she wanted a nap or something. As soon as Kikumaru put her down on the blanket she curled into a ball and grabbed his hand softly. Mizuiro couldn't help but giggle, it was a really cute sight as Kikumaru laughed a bit nervously.

Mizuiro looked up as soon as she heard footsteps running towards them. Looking up she realized it was Yuri who was running over from Hyoutei's side.

"Is Kura-chan okay?" Yuri asked worriedly

"She's just tired" Mizuiro reassured "though I think this is the cutest thing she has ever done in her sleep" pointing at Sakura's hand Mizuiro let out another giggle as Yuri joined her in giggling while Kikumaru just blushed as Sakura held his hand a bit tighter as if sensing that he would leave her side soon.

* * *

"Onii-chan's coming home in a few days" Sakura mumbled as they were walking home. Sakura was barely awake as Kikumaru carried her again.

"How long?" Mizuiro asked curious

"I don't know" Sakura yawned "But I saw this lizard and named him Dino like dinosaur…" Mizuiro and Kikumaru laughed a little, Sakura tended to ramble and say random things if she was tired enough. "Don't worry Eiji! I'll protect you from my evil brother!" Sakura declared before falling asleep

"I don't think he's that evil…" Mizuiro mumbled "Though I guess we can't be too sure with any guys around her, well more with all the guys around her…"

Sakura's brother, Ryuu, was very protective of Sakura since she was born. As much as he acted like he didn't care, everyone knew he did and the last thing he wanted was Sakura to be taken advantage of or hurt. He wouldn't care who the person was, if Sakura was hurt in any way… Mizuiro shook her head.

There was one time one of Ryuu's classmates were teasing Sakura. Sakura never told anyone but when he found out someone was making fun of his sister for no reason all she could hear was shouting before a body flew out the open door of his classroom hitting the wall. Sakura was crying as a bunch of guys had to hold Ryuu back. It was a normal thing for them to be with Ryuu during breaks instead of with their own class. Sakura was actually really shy then. She barely talked and always followed Ryuu around everywhere. Mizuiro just followed Sakura because they were always close due to growing up together.

"Good luck" Mizuiro said to Kikumaru with a small smile as a shiver went down his spine.


	7. Spring Festival

Sakura laughed noticing that she couldn't remember almost anything from when they played against St. Rudolph. The most she remembered was mostly making fun of Fuji's younger brother, Yuuta, and then yelling at him for using the twisty thingy as she called it. Mizuiro could only sigh and shake her head as she gave up reminding Sakura it was called a twist shot.

"We need to choose something to do for the festival" Fukui, the male class representative, declared snapping Sakura out of her thoughts

"Does anybody have any ideas?" Hikoto, the female class representative, asked

Mizuiro and Sakura shared a look, it was too obvious how they liked each other. They often saw their class representatives glance at each other before looking away and blushing.

"How much longer you think?" Sakura whispered

"Soon" Mizuiro replied with a giggle "Looks like one of them will confess soon"

"A game stand!"

"No! A make up stand!"

"How about a clothes stand?"

Mizuiro thought for a second before voicing out her idea "What about a dango stand? It's popular and not too difficult to make if you know how."

"Ah! That's a great idea!" Hikoto grinned

"I agree!"

"We should do that!"

"Tsukioka-sama is so smart!"

Agreements and compliments continued to sound making Mizuiro blush a bit. She wasn't too used to getting compliments like the ones being voiced nor was she used to getting a lot of attention. Sakura giggled realizing that this time Mizuiro wasn't ignoring the compliments she was getting for once and that she was getting a bit embarrassed.

"Now, now everyone. You're embarrassing Mizuiro-chan" Fuji chuckled as he got the class to quiet down a bit

"So we'll have a dango stand" Fukui smiled "Now let's discuss who will do what and costs."

* * *

On their way to practice they discussed what their favorite dango was and what dango they wanted to make for the festival. After they changed for practice Tezuka had called everyone for a meeting. Mizuiro and Sakura frowned noticing that Tezuka was more serious than usual and it was starting to worry them. Tezuka's next words stunned them all though.

"You're… You're really leaving for Germany Kunimitsu?" Mizuiro asked breaking the silence as Tezuka nodded in reply

"I'm going to miss you Kuni-chan!" Sakura cried as she tackled him with a hug. Tezuka didn't dodge like he normally did though. He simply stood there and allowed Sakura to cling to him near tears. Everybody could tell he was serious from this.

"I'm leaving after the Spring Festival" Tezuka said

Tezuka turned to Ryoma as Sakura let go of him but clung to his jacket like a child as she looked down sadly. She nearly flinched at the memory that lead to his reason to leave for Germany. It was something she rather not remember, she never saw so much anger or pain before that day.

With a quick challenge from Tezuka, Ryoma was left defeated. Ryoma was shocked. With a quick message, Tezuka left him on the court and allowed practice to be cancelled.

"Onee-chan…" Sakura said quietly

"I know" Mizuiro replied as she held Sakura's hand softly "I feel the same"

* * *

Mizuiro was laughing at Sakura as they eyed the kimonos they were being forced to wear. It was a few hours before and the other girls wanted to make sure the kimonos fitted as the boys were setting up the stand. Although Mizuiro didn't want to wear a kimono either, Sakura's face was just too priceless to her. It was a mixture of horror, disbelief, depression and wanting to just jump out of the nearest window to get away.

"Why?" Sakura cried out getting ready to just run away, but the other girls were blocking any exit Sakura could take

"The class chose Sakura-san and Mizuiro-san to help sell dango at the stand" Hikoto smiled as she showed them the results

"What?" this time Mizuiro cried out

"I'm not wearing it!" Sakura pouted as she turned away. Mizuiro grimaced at the kimonos, both were pink with cherry blossoms on them.

"Kura-chan, just face it. We can't get away. We'll have to wear it" Mizuiro frowned with a sigh

The other girls were excited as they helped Sakura and Mizuiro put on their kimonos.

"Oh Sakura-san and Mizuiro-san look so beautiful!"

Sakura was still pouting as the girls went on how Sakura looked cute and that the kimono suited her since Sakura meant cherry blossoms.

* * *

"Did you guys hear? Tsukioka and Hikari from 3-6 are wearing kimonos!"

"They look so cute!"

"Please buy some dango!" Mizuiro smiled as hearts formed in the boy's eyes. Mizuiro laughed a bit nervously, Fuji could be a bit protective sometimes and knew when she hated attention. Taking advantage of his absence she continued to use her popularity to lure in customers.

"Do you really think this looks good on me?" Sakura twirled a bit "I normally don't wear these kinds of stuff"

"Definitely looks cute on you Hikari-san!"

"Really?" Sakura giggle "You think so?"

"Yeah!"

"Ah! Would you like to buy some dango? I made them with Mizu-chan earlier!" Sakura smiled. Inside though, she was crying from still having to wear the kimono.

"I think our class will have no problem with getting first place for earning the most money" Hikoto smiled at Fukui

"A-ah" he replied

"Is something wrong?" Hikoto asked a bit worriedly. Fukui mumbled something too fast for her to hear making her a bit confused "Could you repeat that?"

"I really like you Sayana-san" Fukui said after a deep breath as he tried to keep from stuttering

"U-uhh" Hikoto sounded in shock as she started to blush

"I-I understand if you don't feel the time" Fukui said sadly looking away

"I-I really like you too" Hikoto smiled as she turned away still blushing

"W-will you be my girlfriend?" Fukui was blushing as well now

"A-ah" Hikoto stuttered blushing even more

"Woo!" Sakura cheered "Took you two long enough!" she then laughed as Mizuiro whacked her for being rude

"Go have fun" Mizuiro smiled "We'll be fine here" Sakura nodded in response as she waved bye to the newly formed couple

"Take a break! You planned so much already anyway!" Sakura smiled

"Syu-kun, lets go take a break since it's a bit slow now" Mizuiro smiled as Fuji nodded. "Ja, Kura-chan and Eiji-chan I'll let you take care of things while I'm gone!" Walking out with a smile on her face as she took Fujis hand

"Hoi hoi! Wait! There's no more dango!" Sakura said tiredly and wanted to cry in frustration as the rest of the class left or snuck away

"It's okay Kura-chan" Kikumaru smiled "We can do this!" Giving Sakura a quick kiss as she pouted be began to help make more dango

"I can't believe her!" Sakura cried out angrily as she kneaded the dough for the dango "I know she's tired and can be lazy, but I'm tired too!" Kikumaru just chuckled nervously as he made the sauce for the mitarashi dango. With Sakura's frustration, the dough was kneaded much faster allowing the dango to be made much faster as well. When they were finally done, Sakura eyed the stack of packed dango tiredly and angrily. She just wanted to curl up and take a break now.

"Hey Sakura-senpai!" Sakura turned to the familiar voice to see Momoshiro and everyone else

"Momo-chan… why are you all here?" Sakura asked tiredly as she leaned against Kikumaru

"Like we would all miss a chance to see Sakura-senpai and Mizuiro-senpai dressed up" Momoshiro lauged

"You looked really cute Kura-chan" Kawamura said with a smile "Where's Mizuiro-chan and Fuji?"

"Right here!" Mizuiro smiled as Sakura glared at her

"I can't believe you left me and Eiji to make all that dango!" Sakura cried frustrated as Mizuiro laughed nervously before she ran off with Sakura running after her

"Now, now Kura-chan! No need to get to mad" Mizuiro laughed

"I'm tired as hell! Of course I'm going to be mad!" Sakura shouted as they ran through crowds

"But look you're running!"

"I have enough energy to catch you first!"


	8. Come Back Soon

Sakura sighed as she hugged her pillow while looking out her window.

"If that didn't happen… How different would things be…?" Sakura sighed

* * *

"_That bastard! He's a lefty and he was playing up with his right hand!" exclaimed one of the upperclassmen on the tennis team "He says that he doesn't need to use his left hand against us! I don't care if he's a lousy grade school champion, he's underestimating our club!"_

"_Senpai! Please senpai calm down!" Mizuiro cried out running over_

"_Dai-nii!" Sakura nearly screamed, both of them knew it was about to get violent_

"_I… I can't take it anymore! If you're not going to use that left hand… I'll break it!" the upperclassman yelled_

"_What is wrong with you?" Mizuiro screamed as she blocked with her own racquet "You're going to hurt someone over something like that?"_

"_Mizuiro…" Tezuka gasped in surprise_

"_Why would you hurt your own teammate?" Mizuiro continued to scream_

"_Move it you little brat!" the upperclassman yelled grabbing her and pushing her out of his way. He was already blinded by rage though and attempted to hit her as well_

"_Kuni…mitsu…" Mizuiro's eyes widened, she could see the pain and anger in Tezuka's eyes as he glared at his teammate_

"_How many years have you guys played tennis?" Tezuka asked angrily "You don't use your own racquet to hurt other people! If this is what this club is all about, I'm quitting." Picking up his glasses and grabbing Mizuiro's hand he started to walk away_

"_And what is going on here?" their captain Yuudai, Yamato asked a bit calmly as he stood at the gate of the tennis court_

"_Yamato-buchou…" the tennis team all muttered surprised_

"_K-Kuni-chan?" Sakura gasped as she ran over to him and Mizuiro "Kuni-chan, how bad is your arm?" Sakura was near tears seeing that he was in pain_

"_Don't worry about it" He replied trying to calm Sakura down, but she snapped instead. The normally shy, sensitive and hyper child turned to the entire tennis team in rage._

"_What gave you a good enough reason to hurt him?" Sakura demanded as Yamato held her back "You think you're all that just because you hurt someone?" Sakura struggled hard and Yamato was almost worried she would get out of his hold "Huh? I though in tennis, you settle it with tennis! Answer me you stupid coward!" The whole team stared at her in shock. They had never seen her so angry._

"_Sakura-chan, calm down" Yamato said calmly as he held her tigher_

"_Let me go Dai-nii!" Sakura screamed_

"_Sakura! What the hell is going on?" Ryuu yelled taking hold of his sister._

"_He hurt him! He hurt Kunimitsu!" Sakura screamed struggling. Ryuu looked over at his best friend who was the tennis team's captain_

"_She snapped when we got back here" he replied_

"_Ryuu, let me go!" Sakura screamed more as the tennis team was slowly backing away. Everyone in Seigaku knew she had some kendo and martial arts training._

"_Sakura, remember what sensei said? Rage will get you nowhere!" Ryuu tried to reason "Rage will just eat your heart, do you want that?" Sakura slowly started to struggle less_

"_Sakura, really you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine." Tezuka said softly putting his right hand on her head_

"_Promise?" Sakura sniffed_

"_Promise" He smiled slightly as Sakura hugged him and cried once her brother let her go_

"_I was scared something worse was going to happen" she cried as Mizuiro patted her back_

"_Saa… Now which one of you idiots not only hurt a good friend of my sister but also just made her cry?" Ryuu said darkly as he stood up slowly glaring at everyone_

"_Ah… This isn't good. I can't hold back Ryuu without at least three other people…" Yamato mused a bit darkly_

"_I think that I need to have a nice talk with…" with a quick glimpse at everyone he could tell the one that was most scared was guilty "You." Walking over he grabbed the jersey of the tennis player and dragged him off the court "You see, I have two lessons to teach you now behind the school…"_

"_Ryuu…" Yamato sighed_

"_He'll be back alive and in one piece. Don't worry." Ryuu said as he dragged the screaming tennis player away. An enraged Sakura was nothing compared to a pissed off Ryuu._

"_Everyone, 100 laps." Yamato shouted. The team quickly started running. "Come on Sakura, let's go take him to the hospital" Sakura sniffed as she let go of Tezuka and nodded. To reassure her, Tezuka held her hand as they walked off the court._

* * *

"He probably just would've quit if Dai-nii didn't talk him out of it…" Sakura mumbled "And if that incident never had happened… His arm would be okay…" Starring at her phone she couldn't help but want to talk to Seigaku's former captain. She couldn't help but wonder if he really needed to know though. Looking at the clock she realized that Tezuka would be boarding right about now and Mizuiro would be saying goodbye.

* * *

"Kunimitsu, here!" Mizuiro smiled handing him two gifts wrapped in the same kind of wrapping paper. "This one is from me" pointing to the top one as he took them with a small smile "and this one is from Kura-chan"

"Arigatou" he replied after a moment they both knew he had to leave

"You better come back as soon as possible Kunimitsu!" Mizuiro said as he was walking away. Pausing, he glanced back for a second with a quick reply

"I will."


	9. Surprise

"Isn't his attitude different from usual?" Kikumaru asked as he watched Ryoma practice his serves

"He has been like that since Tezuka left…" Fuji replied "Though tomorrow's match against Jyousei Shounan might also have something to do with it…"

"Ne, Kura-chan isn't Ochibi cool?" Kikumaru asked excitedly only to see Sakura sulking in a corner with a dark aura surrounding her.

"I guess mentioning that Tezuka is gone is taboo for her…" Fuji chuckled as the dark aura around her seemed to grow before looking over at Mizuiro who was practicing harder as well.

* * *

"Jyousei Shounen Middle school versus Seishun Gakuen will begin now"

After Ryuzaki announced the lineup, Sakura frowned for a second. As much as she wanted to play with Mizuiro, she was glad to be playing with her boyfriend. It had been a while since the two had played together but she was Mizuiro's doubles partner and she felt that she barely got to play with her.

* * *

"What's this? A girl on the boys team?" Oota said "Seigaku must be getting desperate to let a girl on the boy's team"

Sakura's eye twitched a bit at his comment.

"Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I can't play like the boys" Sakura glared "Being a guy doesn't make you instantly better than the girls"

"Seishun Gakuen versus Jyousei Shounen, Doubles 1. One set match. Oota to serve"

Sakura was frowning. Ever since the first serve, they've been mainly rallying. Jyousei Shounen continued to win games making her frustrated. Sakura was shocked when she tried to return a ball only to have her racquet knocked out of her hand.

"How do you like it? My Cannon Volley" she and Kikumaru heard

"Are you okay?" Kikumaru asked worriedly as she picked up her racquet

"Un." Sakura smiled back, but he could still sense her frustration "Let's take control back with our serve okay?"

"Alright!" Kikumaru smiled

Using her 'disappearing' serve, she left her opponents in shock

"15-15"

Serving another ball, Sakura let them think she would aim at a corner. To their surprise, Sakura used a spin serve instead. Then serving a slow ball, Kiriyama became irritated and the ball harder than necessary causing the ball to get stuck in the fence behind them. Out of anger, he threw his racquet on the ground.

"Out"

Sakura smiled as they began to take control of the match, but she was getting tired which was unusual for her.

As Oota and Kiriyama grabbed another game Kikumaru looked over at Sakura as they had a quick drink of water.

"Are we going to give it a try?" Sakura asked noticing Kikumaru thinking about something

"Yeah, you can do it right? Since you helped Oishi and I practiced and watched once in a while" Kikumaru replied tilting his head to the right a bit in a curious manner

"Might not be as good as you and Oishi, but I'm sure I can pull it off" Sakura smiled. Surprising everyone, they began to use the I formation.

"Game and Match, Hikari-Kikumaru pair. 7 games to 5" Sakura and Kikumaru cheered as they high fived.

"Oi Sakura!" Mizuiro called out "Look who's here!"

Turning, Sakura spotted her brother waving "Onii-chan!"

"I thought I'd be a surprise" Ryuu laughed as his sister nearly tackled him to the ground

"How long are you staying?" Sakura asked once she let him go

"Not too sure" Ryuu replied shrugging as Mizuiro mentioned about wanting to get a drink from a vending machine they walked past earlier

"How's Papa?" Sakura asked. As a way of staying as her father's 'baby girl' he insisted that she would always call him 'Papa.' Sakura and Ryuu never really understood their father much, but his playful ways could be seen in them as well. If they had to pick who's personality was like closest to their father's, it would be Sakura with no doubt.

"Dad's... well Dad" Ryuu said as Sakura nodded understanding "Oh remember that small sports shop he started with in New York?"

"Ah, I remember" Sakura grinned, she was often sent her tennis supplies from that small shop

"It became super successful and now there's a store pretty much everywhere" Ryuu stated "William's Sport Shop is earning more and more money each day"

"Ehh, that's so cool. Papa must be so proud!" Sakura grinned

* * *

Mizuiro frowned as she saw another girl pulled Sakuno's braid. Mizuiro hated bullying and it was something she could never stand seeing. Even though Mizuiro found Sakuno's friend annoying at times, she had nothing against the two girls; especially against Sakuno. She, like Sakura, found Sakuno pretty cute with how sweet and shy the girl was. Mizuiro quietly walked over to the group and pulled on the hair of the girl who had pulled Sakuno's

"Ow! Oi! What do you think you're doing?!" the girl turned to Mizuiro

"Just what you did to her just now" Mizuiro replied with a bored look. Feeling the two other girls sneak behind her to pull her hair, she quickly turned and smacked their wrists. The frowned and looked at Mizuiro angrily as they held their wrist and walked behind the girl she figured to be their leader. "Oh, so you're Jyousei Shounen cheerleaders? Well looks like I'm not going to be impressed by your school now"

"Who do you think you are?!" the girl with short pig tails asked

"Oh, you didn't notice?" Mizuiro turned her back to them so they could see the writing on her jacket. The girls were surprised to see it was indeed the jacket for Seigaku's boys tennis team.

"Wait, you're a Seigaku regular? You're the girl playing against Wakato-kun?" the girl with back hair asked

"Actually, yes I am and I don't intend to lose" Mizuiro replied

"Oh please... Wakato-kun will so beat you." the leader replied. A tennis ball came whizzing right next to her head and Mizuiro smiled as she caught it while the girls ran away.

"Ryoma! Help me warm up!" Mizuiro grinned at her kouhai.


	10. Bet

"Jyousei Shounen versus Seishun Gakuen, Singles 3 will now start. Tsukioka Mizuiro versus Wakato Hiroshi"

Mizuiro put her hat on as she walked out to the court. Covering her ears, she tried her best to avoid glaring at her opponent's fan girls as they started screaming when he walked on the court. She sighed as she realized why no one wanted to play in Singles 3. Holding her hand out, she expected him to shake her hand but was caught off guard when he brought her hand up and kiss it instead.

"Oi! Flirty! That's my best friend and I refuse to share her with you!" Sakura yelled as she glared at Wakato making him chuckle, but both missed the deadly glare Fuji was giving a few feet away from Sakura.

"I hope we have a good game my lovely lady" Wakato smiled as he held her hand. Mizuiro, being more calm and patient than Sakura, just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, let's have a good game..." Mizuiro trailed off confused

"Say, can I call you Mizu-chan?" he asked

"No!" Sakura shouted from the sidelines making the other regulars laugh

"I guess..." Mizuiro could have sworn that a darker aura was forming where Fuji was standing

"Saa, Mizu-chan shall we make a bet?" Wakato asked with a sly smile

"A bet?" Mizuiro repeated confused

"Sou, a bet. For every game I win, that's how many dates you're going on with me" Wakato grinned

"Eh?" Mizuiro sounded quietly that even Sakura barely heard her

"Or whatever, you've probably never been on a date before..." Wakato trailed off as he looked away like it was nothing special.

Sakura winced a bit. He had just given a blow to her best friend's pride. She could already hear the many curses that Mizuiro was probably throwing him in her mind.

"I'll take on that bet" Mizuiro replied as her eyebrow twitched in annoyance

"Now I should choose who your opponent should be" Wakato said as if he just took care of business

"Eh?" Mizuiro watched confused as he took off his hat and threw it in the air

"Change!" he shouted

"Over!" the fan girls replied as he caught his hat and put it on backwards. Mizuiro looked over at her opponent confused. There was something different about him and she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Singles 3. Tsukioka to serve."

* * *

Sakura laughed a bit making her relax and stop glaring so hard at Wakato. Kikumaru looked over at her questionably.

"Nya? Kura-chan what's wrong with Mi-chan? It seems like she changed totally." he said as the others agreed

Ryuu chuckled at his question "Let's just say... it's like she has another personality when she gets pissed" he then said as Sakura nodded "...and it developed while dealing with Sakura's temper problems"

"I do not have temper problems!" Sakura glared at her brother

"Denial" he mouthed to the regulars making them laugh as the siblings started arguing

* * *

Mizuiro watched Wakato's form after she served a jump serve. She gasped when she recognized what was going on. She was able to rally with him for a bit, but missed as she was observing his form. As he scored his point, Mizuiro watched as the ball bounced to the fence

"Come on!" Wakato suddenly shouted surprising her

"Leyton Hewitt..." she breathed out surprised. This time, she put all her frustrations into her serve to have the ball fly with a velocity that matched Kajimoto's L-drive serve. She was surprised as it was returned, but she took a familiar stance that was well known within Seigaku.

"Ah! Tsubame Gaeshi?!" the freshmen trio shouted surprised as Sakura tilted her head "Mizuiro-senpai can do that?!"

"Mizuiro likes to practice a lot with us" Sakura explained as she pointed between herself, Kikumaru, and Fuji "Sometimes we like to learn each other's moves, we just choose to not use them because they aren't ours"

They continued to rally and with ever 'change over' Mizuiro was becoming more and more agitated making Sakura giggle nervously. While almost everyone was becoming scared at how Mizuiro was acting, Sakura was only reminded of how many times she lost a fight to Mizuiro when Mizuiro was that agitated.

"Time to get more serious or I'm going to lose" Mizuiro said as she returned that ball. Wakato aimed at a corner that was out of Mizuiro's reach. Mizuiro just stood calmly in the middle of the court as the ball bounced back to her instead. She smirked as she returned that ball and aimed for the corner that was out of Wakato's reach and earned a point.

* * *

"Is that?" Horio asked in disbelief

"It couldn't be!" Kachio exclaimed as Sakura grinned

"Senpai, isn't that Tezuka Zone?" Momoshiro asked Inui

"Well it's similar to Tezuka but-" Inui started to answer

"It's called Mizu Zone" Sakura interrupted

"Right" Inui continued "Mizu Zone has a different affect though, it allows Mizuiro to control the way the ball bounces on her court when she hits it"

"So wait, she can control where her opponents hit the ball" Momoshiro asked to make sure

"Precisely. The way she hits to her opponent can control where her opponent hits the ball" Inui said

* * *

"Game and Match to Tsukioka 7 games to 5"

Sakura grinned as she started jumping. "Woo! Mi-chan won!"

"Well you beat me, but don't forget our bet" Wakato grinned as Mizuiro groaned

"Ah, I think I need to talk to someone for a nice young man I spotted during this game" Ryuu said casually as he glanced at Fuji before walking off making Sakura giggle.

"You do know what my brother is talking about right?" Sakura grinned as she latched onto Fuji's arm

"Not at all" Fuji replied calmly

"He knows you like Mizu-chan" Sakura whispered in his ear as she grinned "So he's making sure Flirty stays clear of her"

"E-eh?!" Fuji sounded in surprise

"You should be happy, she's practically family so he looks after her as well" Sakura replied before walking away

"Well that's interesting then..." Fuji smiled


	11. Bad Day

Mizuiro sighed as she took a walk to clear her head. She had stormed out of her home in frustration after her mother had a talk with her. It had only been a day since their win against Jyousei, but they way her mother was fidgeting she knew what was about to be said would be important.

She honestly had no idea of where she was headed, but all she wanted was to get out of that house and away from everything.

* * *

_Mizuiro was about to get up and put her dishes away, but her mother's hand on her arm stopped her._

_"Yes Okaa-chan?" she asked taking a sip of her drink. She wasn't one to get in trouble, but she was getting slightly nervous from her mother's facial expression_

_"Well it's about your father..." her mother took a deep breath "Well he hasn't been coming home lately and he just mailed me this" Her mother's shaking hands pushed some papers in her direction. Mizuiro's eyes widened as she gasped at the sight of the divorce papers._

_"W-what?!" Mizuiro choked out "O-Okaa-chan what's going on?"_

_Her mother sighed, she didn't want to let Mizuiro know what was going on in hopes of saving her from hurting "As soon as this is settled, we're moving in with a friend of mine. She's allowing us to stay with her until I get things back together"_

_"Where?" Mizuiro asked_

_"Kanagawa, we're leaving once summer break begins" was her reply. Mizuiro stared at her mother with mixed emotions before getting up and running to her room for her wallet and phone before running out of the house_

* * *

Mizuiro looked up at the clear sky before she continued walking. As far as she knew, her parents were happily married and would continue to be for years to come. For a few days her father had started to return home late though. It wasn't surprising though, once in a while her father would stay late to get more done or to help a coworker. She was surprised when she learned that her father was simply not returning home as of late though. She would get a few texts from her father once in a while claiming he was on a trip and would return home soon between the 'how are you' and 'how is tennis going'

Not looking where she was going, she bumped into someone. Gasping she looked up and quickly apologize

"No need to worry about it, are you alright Mizuiro?" Fuji asked concerned, Mizuiro was normally more aware of her surroundings while Sakura was the one they would keep an eye on

"I'm fine" Mizuiro blushed in embarrassment as she looked away missing Fuji's frown

"So where are you headed?" he then asked

"Nowhere in particular actually, just a walk" Mizuiro shrugged

"Hmm... well I know a great place to get a snack" Fuji smiled as he took her hand. It was easy to tell that something was bothering her and she didn't want to talk about it. Mizuiro tilted her head in confusion as a small cafe came into view "Eiji's aunt owns it," he then explained "so we tend to come here once in a while" It was also how he found out that Sakura and Kikumaru were dating. His aunt could gossip so much at times.

"E-eh?" Mizuiro sounded as he led her inside

"Syuusuke!"

"Hello" Fuji smiled "I brought a friend this time"

"Oh! You must be Mizuiro, Sakura and Eiji sure like to talk a lot about you all" Kikumaru's aunt grinned "Well Sakura talks about you the most. Well take a seat anywhere and I'll be with you shortly"

Mizuiro followed Fuji to an open window seat. Taking in her surrounding, Fuji smiled as Mizuiro was acting more like herself now.

They talked as they ate. Mizuiro was in love with the small cafe and glad for the distraction Fuji was giving her. Even after they finished eating and their plates were taken away, they continued to talk. Mizuiro smiled as she rested her chin in her palm as she leaned on the table and looked out the window. Fuji smiled as he took out his cell phone and quickly took a picture of her. To him, it was just a picture perfect moment and he wanted to keep it. Mizuiro turned to him surprised as she heard the phone's shutter noise.

"What are you doing?" she raised an eyebrow as she turned to him, making him chuckle

"Capturing a moment" he replied showing her the picture as she shook her head with a small smile. She was used to him taking pictures out of the blue already, especially if it was one of his cactus plants. "I... I've been meaning to tell you something and Ryuu-san has actually finally pushed me to say it"

"What do you mean?" Mizuiro asked confused, it didn't sound like more bad news, but what did Sakura's older brother have to do with it?

"I-I really like you Mizuiro" Fuji said opening his eyes. Normally he would be glaring at someone when she saw his bright blue eyes but this time they were soft and showing nothing but love and admiration. Mizuiro was taken aback. She held her own feelings for the tensai, but knowing she would be moving soon made her lost in words

"I-I" Mizuiro stuttered in surprise "I'm sorry, but I need to go" She wanted to cry as she found herself running away from someone once again.


	12. Visit

"Mizu-chan! Wrong way!" Sakura said worriedly as she pushed her friend in the right direction for the girl's restroom

Mizuiro was in a bit of a daze since she left her home and it wasn't something the tennis team could look over. On their way to school, Fuji had to steer her a bit so she wouldn't walk into a wall. Sakura was rambling on about a ridiculous dream she had the night before that involved her saving unicorns with cotton candy and normally Mizuiro would laugh along, but she was just busy focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

As lunch came around, Mizuiro told everyone she was going to take a walk to stretch out her legs and would join them for lunch later. Sakura watched her friend walk away from the group and once she was out of sight she turned to her friends worriedly

"Mi-chan's acting strange" she said "Did you guys have to stop her from doing something wrong too?"

"She almost walked into my bicycle this morning" Momoshiro replied

"She almost drank from my water bottle" Kaidoh shrugged

"She almost took my homework instead of hers" Inui said

"She almost put her shoes into my locker" Kawamura said confused

"I know something must've happened, but she never told me what and we always tell each other everything" Sakura said worriedly as she stole a bite from Kikumaru's lunch

"I'm sure she'll tell us when she's ready" Kawamura smiled patting Sakura's shoulder

* * *

Ryoma woke from his nap under a tree as someone tripped over him

"Ow..." Mizuiro grumbled. She had been in a daze again and didn't see Ryoma sleeping

"Ano... Mizuiro-senpai" Ryoma called out watching his upperclassman sit up

"Oh, sorry about that Ryoma" she said as he just stared at her "What?"

"Why are you so out of it?" he asked surprising her

"Guess I have to tell you, huh?" Mizuiro sighed with a small smile. "Well... I'm moving once summer break starts, which means our game with Rikkaidai is my last one with everyone. I really want us to win. My one wish is to see you guys smile before I leave this school" Tears formed in her eyes but she refused to let them fall as Ryoma just stared at her.

"Che" Ryoma lowered his hat to cover his eyes, he didn't know how to handle the situation

"Promise me you won't tell anyone" Mizuiro said as she stood up still looking down at her underclassman "I don't want anyone to know until after our match with Rikkaidai"

"Yeah, yeah I promise" Ryoma replied reluctantly as she walked back to the building

Sighing, she knew she had to let one person know before she told everyone else eventually as she walked to Ryuzaki-sensei's office

"Ryuzaki-sensei, I have something I need to discuss with you" her voice said unsteadily as she walked in

* * *

Sakura skipped to the front gate, Mizuiro was acting more like her normal self and there was no practice due to their upcoming match with Rikkaidai.

"Let's go eat somewhere!" Sakura declared with a grin

"Gomen, I can't Kura-chan" Mizuiro said disappointed "I have to go somewhere with my mom. I'll see you guys tomorrow" With a smile and wave she ran off in the opposite direction they normally walk

"Well she's in a hurry" Sakura said to herself as she tilted her head in a curious manner "I wonder where she's going"

* * *

"Sorry I'm a bit late" Mizuiro said catching her breath

"There you are! Why are you still in your school clothes?" her mother gasped "We're going to visit who we're staying with, I can't have you in your school uniform. You go get out tickets under Tsukioka and I'll go get you something. Meet me back here"

Mizuiro sighed as she went to the ticket booth for their tickets as her mother went to a boutique store that was near. It was only a couple moments later and they were on the train to Kanagawa.

"Go change" her mother smiled handing her a bag

Mizuiro nodded before heading to the restroom. It was rather small, but big enough that she could change. Mizuiro had always trusted her mother's sense in fashion, so she didn't pay much attention to the details of the flowy blue dress she was putting on. She clipped her hair that a bit messy from the wind and running back with a flower pin her mother bought her.

"Now did she buy shoes?" Mizuiro wondered looking through the bag once more. She sighed as she held up a pair of flat silver sandals. "She really thought of everything, didn't she?"

Her mother looked at her with a satisfied smiled when she returned to her seat. After they both got a drink from the cart vendor, they sat in silence for their trip. Mizuiro's nerve started up as they arrived in Kanagawa.

"I grew up in Kanagawa" her mother smiled as they walked down streets "Ah, right here"

"Sanada?" Mizuiro read the name plate for the enormous estate curiously

"Yes" her mother replied as she rang the door bell "Their family is very traditional so I expect the best from you. She told me she has a son the same age as you and that he attends Rikkaidai"

A beautiful lady about the same age as Mizuiro's mother appeared at the door with a smile "Hello, it's nice to see you Miyoko, Mizuiro-chan I am Sanada, Fuyumi. I grew up with your mother."

"Nice to meet you as well" Mizuiro smiled and bowed politely

"Well come inside, soon this will be your home as well." Fuyumi said as she showed them in. As they were taking off their shoes a boy her age walked past Fuyumi.

"Ah, Genichirou this is my childhood friend Miyoko and her daughter Mizuiro-chan. They will be staying with us starting summer break." She told him as he turned and faced Miyoko and Mizuiro. "This is my youngest son, Genichirou." She wore a proud smile as she introduced him

"It's nice to meet you" Mizuiro smiled politely as she and her mother bowed

"It's nice to meet you too" he replied with a small bow

"Genichirou why don't you show Mizuiro-chan around while Miyoko and I catch up on things." Fuyumi suggested.

"Hai" he replied as Mizuiro's mother took her things. Mizuiro walked up to Sanada and bowed once more before following him as they walked around the traditional house.

"So what school are you from in Tokyo?" he asked her suddenly

"Seigaku." Mizuiro answered as she looked around curiously.

"I see." he looked out the corner of his eye to see Mizuiro staring out the window. "Over there is the dojo, would you like to see it?" he asked when he looked out to see what she was looking at.

"Really?" She asked when he nodded. "Sure I would love to." She answered as he showed her. "When I was younger my childhood friend Sakura and I did kendo before." She said while they walked toward the dojo. Sanada slid the door open as Mizuiro walked in amazed.

"Sugoi!" She gasped as she looked at the display case of trophies. She finally noticed he was in the kendo attire. "Oh, were you going to practice when I came over?" She asked as she picked up a shinai that was on the floor.

"If you like, will you be willing to spar with me?" He asked as his picked up his shinai

"Sure, why not? I haven't sparred in awhile so don't expect much." Mizuiro replied. She was in a dress but that didn't stop her. She took her stance as she pointed her shinai forward. When he signaled start she lunged as she started the spar.

After a while of sparring Mizuiro stepped back sweating. She sat down as he passed her a towel. She smiled and thanked him as she wiped off the sweat.

"Ah that felt good." She said before falling back. "Well to tell you the truth I was kind of nervous but your family is really nice."

"Genichirou, Mizuiro." Fuyumi called as she walked into the dojo and smiled. "Your mother is ready to leave." She told them. Mizuiro nodded before standing up.

"Thanks for keeping me company." Mizuiro said shaking Genichiro's hand before following his mother

* * *

"Well wasn't that a nice visit?" Mizuiro's mother said as they walked to the train station.

"I guess." Mizuiro replied shrugging

"Well anyway, it's a good thing you're getting along with Genichirou." her mother continued " Fuyumi would be so happy if you two got married. I would too." Her mother grinned as she began nudging her daughter's side

"Okaa-san!" Mizuiro groaned. She was worried of how to tell Fuji, the last thing she needed was to add another boy to the mess in her head as her mother just laughed leading the way home.


	13. Tears

Mizuiro watched as Sakura continued to run and jump around excitedly. She always knew to expect this from her friend's hyper and childish behavior, but Sakura claimed it was her warm up and not her personality. The two found it strange to be playing instead of Oishi and Kikumaru, but figured that that Ryuzaki wanted the two underclassmen to practice doubles.

"Kura-chan, since we aren't playing you got to win okay?" Kikumaru grinned as he put an arm around her shoulder as her arms went around in waist in reflex

"Got it!" she grinned back. Mizuiro couldn't help but grin at the two, they were definitely cute together

Fuji was watching Mizuiro carefully, she had been either too out of it to talk to him or just avoiding him in general. He was surprised when she bolted from the cafe. He didn't feel hurt from the response, he in fact scolded himself for confessing his feelings when she clearly had something big worrying her.

"Syu-chan!" Sakura nearly tackled him to the ground in surprise

"Yes Sakura?" he asked calmly as Sakura stared at him frowning

"You have a look like Mizu-chan when she's deep in thought" she replied "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong" he chuckled "Don't worry about me Sakura"

"Alright..." she frowned a bit not believing him before running over to the court since Mizuiro was yelling that they were playing now

* * *

Mizuiro eyed their opponents carefully when Niou didn't return the ball. Sakura knew well enough that Rikkaidai was a school to not be taken lightly, especially if Mizuiro's cousin was the captain. The serve was plain, as if begging to be returned for a rally between the two sides.

"I don't like that look he has on" Sakura whispered referring to Niou as he returned once before letting the ball pass again

"He's reading us" Mizuiro whispered back

"I see" Niou said relaxing as he stood straighter

"Be ready" Mizuiro whispered to Sakura as they watched their opponents talk to each other

"I wonder how fun this will be..." Sakura grinned

Mizuiro was confused, both Niou and Yagyuu were at the base line as Sakura served a plain serve once again before starting to rally with their opponents. Sakura let a smash from Niou pass her while the freshmen trio were confused with the actions of both schools players

"40-15"

"What's wrong with Tsukioka-senpai and Hikari-senpai?" Horio shouted worriedly. They were playing differently and losing points and gaining some in between

"They're holding back" Ryoma answered calmly as he stared at the court

"Why? They could easily beat them right?" Horio asked

"With their kendo experience, there is a 99 percent chance they believe something is up. They are holding back so their opponent underestimates them and they can get a better feel for their opponents play" Inui replied appearing behind the underclassmen

"Mizu-chan, is it time for our comeback now?" Sakura grinned as Mizuiro nodded in response "I wonder if you will be able to return this" Sakura said with a small tease in her voice as she served

"Don't think I won't know where it's going!" Niou shouted as he ran to return the ball only to have it 'disappear' before he could hit it and 'reappear' near the base line

"I didn't say it was a regular serve" Sakura winked

"It seems you got the wrong data Niou-san" Mizuiro smirked "Your next hit will be a lob"

"Mizu Zone!" they could hear the freshmen say in surprise

"All yours Saku-chan!" Mizuiro grinned

"Don't look down on us!" Sakura shouted as she jumped up and put a spin on the ball as she hit it causing it to not bounce

* * *

"Rikkaidai wins 7 games to 6"

"Well... this is a first" Sakura said surprised referring to their loss

"Well there's a first for everything" Mizuiro said calmly before smiling evilly at Sakura "I guess we just need to practice more"

"M-Mi-chan... You're scaring me more than Kuni-chan and his threats for laps" Sakura said taking a step back scared

"Just kidding!" Mizuiro then double over laughing as Sakura began whining of how mean that was

"That was fun, I hope we get to play each other again!" Sakura then smiled while she eyed Mizuiro warily

"Us as well" Yagyuu smiled

"See you later!" Sakura waved at Niou and Yagyuu which confused them

"Senpai, where are you going? It's not over yet!" Horio exclaimed as Mizuiro and Sakura grabbed their belongings and started to leave

"Do you ever not shout?!" Sakura exclaimed back in Horio's face making him stumble back "We need to go due to personal matters so if you have a problem with it, just keep it to yourself. Got it?" Sakura then glared as she scanned the scared underclassmen who nodded fearfully "Good. Bye!" Sakura then smiled as she skipped off next to Mizuiro

* * *

"Sei-chan!" Sakura hugged her friend's cousin before pouting "You and Mizu-chan are so mean for not telling me about this until recently"

"Sorry Sakura-chan, we didn't want you to worry so much" Yukimura smiled as he patted her head like a child

"Alright, I forgive you" Sakura sighed before smiling

They spent the free time talking and catching up, it had been a while since they had all been together. Sakura blushed embarrassed as Mizuiro continued to tell stories of her getting in trouble, causing trouble or during a story she had wish was never brought up again. Sakura would then in turn try to embarrass Mizuiro, but couldn't come up with any stories making the other two laugh more instead

"It's not funny!" Sakura whined as she covered her blushing face with her hands

"Well I could tell about the time that-" Mizuiro grinned as the door opened revealing the tennis team of Rikkaidai

"What are they doing here?" Kirihara asked rudely

"That's an easy question!" Sakura grinned

"He's my cousin" Mizuiro replied not seeing the big deal as the team wore shocked expressions

Yukimura was smiling as everyone was talking, Sakura and Mizuiro were easily accepted by everyone and happily chatting away. To Sakura's relief, the stories Mizuiro began telling were no longer as embarrassing.

After the long wait of Yukimura's operation, everyone cheered as the doctor came out telling them that the surgery was a success and that he will be able to continue to play tennis

Mizuiro took a deep breath realizing it was now or never to tell her best friend about her move "Ne, Saku-chan I need to tell you something"

"What is it?" Sakura asked worriedly as Mizuiro's voice carried sadness in it

"I... I have to move in with Okaa-san's friend for a while" Mizuiro said quietly as she looked away

"Why?" Sakura asked confused

"My parents are getting divorced, so we're staying with Sanada's family for a while" Mizuiro explained

"So you're transferring to Rikkaidai then..." Sakura said looking down. To her it felt like she was losing someone important, someone no one can replace "Does anyone else know then?"

Mizuiro shook her head "No, only you and Ryuzaki-sensei"

"You have to at least tell Syu-chan" Sakura frowned, she had already begun to feel like crying

"I can't Saku-chan, he... he just told me he liked me. How am I suppose to tell him? How do I tell him that I like him too, but I'm moving" Mizuiro cried

"You need to Mi-chan" Sakura sniffed as she hugged her friend "I don't think I can tell him that. Besides, he's been thinking he did something wrong. He's always asking if you told me or Eiji-chan anything"

"He has?" Mizuiro asked surprised as Sakura nodded before letting go

"Everyday" Sakura smiled "He cares a lot Mi-chan"

"I'll... I'll call him later" Mizuiro sniffed "I'll meet up with him later"

"Good" Sakura grinned "I need to go now before Ryuu begins to look for me" she then laughed making Mizuiro smile "But if he doesn't take good care of you let me know so I can beat him up okay?"

"Will do" Mizuiro laughed as she waved bye to Sakura. Once Sakura turned at the corner though, both of them let their tears fall freely.


	14. Saying Bye

Mizuiro heart was skipping beats as she approached Fuji at a nearby park. She was going to leave in a few days and knew that if she didn't talk to him now, she never would. She sighed before putting on a smile and waved at him

"Hey Syu-kun"

"Hey Mizuiro" he smiled in return, but frowned slightly after noticing her sad and worried expression "Is something wrong?"

"It's just..." Mizuiro sighed as they sat on a bench "My parents are getting divorced and I'm moving with Okaa-san to Kanagawa and transferring to Rikkaidai" She looked up at the peaceful sky to avoid looking at the tensai "Just so you know though, I do like you too. It's just... I panicked when you told me because that was the day Okaa-san told me everything"

"You didn't tell everyone did you?" Fuji asked as Mizuiro shook her head before looking over at him again

"All I wanted was to play with everyone one last time and not have them sad" Mizuiro said softly before looking down "I was hoping we could all go to Nationals together, but I guess we can't now"

"Then we'll all get there for you" Fuji smiled as he took her hand in his

Mizuiro smiled as she looked up "I'll be the loudest in the stands that day" She felt better now that she knew he wasn't mad at her or anything "Ahh I'm glad Kura-chan pushed me to talk to you now" she sighed

"She did?" he asked surprised

"When I told her, we were both so close to crying and yet she told me I had to at least tell you myself" she laughed a bit making Fuji smile as he made a mental note to thank the hyper active girl later

"Where does this put us now?" Fuji asked curiously as Mizuiro was shocked to see his blue eyes staring at her

"That's a good question..." Mizuiro sighed

"We could still give it a try" he suggested "We won't get to see each other often... but I'm sure we can work it out" Mizuiro nodded with a smile and agreed to see how things turned out

They spent the rest of the day together, just forgetting about all that was happening now and just focusing on being together. Mizuiro was disappointed when she had to return home and help her mother finish packing. She could feel all her worries disappear with him and as she returned home they all came back making her feel a bit depressed again.

* * *

Sakura groaned as she leaned back on her chair. She was decorating the frame of a picture of the whole tennis club. She decided to give it to Mizuiro as a present, that way it would remind her to come back once in a while. The frame was finished, but she had to remind herself to not touch it since the clear coat that sealed everything together was still drying.

"I still can't believe she'll be gone in a few days" she sighed to herself as she stared at her ceiling "I hope she talked to Syu-chan like she said she would"

Grinning, she grabbed a picture fame that was placed on her desk. It was taken during the week she first met the Rikkaidai captain. Mizuiro's mother had taken them to the beach for a few hours. While they were playing the water, a picture was taken without them knowing until they were each given a copy later.

"If only times like these could just last forever" Sakura sighed with a smile before putting the frame down on her desk again "Could be worse though... she could be moving out of Japan..." she then mumbled to herself

"Sakura! Eiji's here!" Ryuu shouted from downstairs

"Coming!" Sakura grinned as she ran out of her room. Her brother knew of the two's relationship and was uneasy about her being in a relationship since he thought she was too young, but their mother was able to convince him that she was growing up and knew Kikumaru would never hurt her.

"Remember, no funny business" Ryuu said sternly before walking back to his room

"I still don't understand what he means by funny business..." Kikumaru mumbled confused

"I don't either" Sakura laughed before they got comfortable on the couch in the living room

The rest of the day they just watched movies on the TV while Kikumaru had his head rested on Sakura's lap. It was a peaceful day for the two and Sakura had a feeling that she could fall asleep like this and not care. Not wanting to actually fall asleep though, she decided they should take a walk.

"Sometimes I wonder if I want to stay on the team..." Sakura admitted once they were a block away from her home

"Why?" Kikumaru asked confused "You love tennis and being on the team"

"It won't be the same without Mizu-chan though..." Sakura sighed "We signed up so we could do something together... without her there it's like my main reason is gone. I love the team and all, but it just won't be the same knowing Mizu-chan won't be next to me in the finals"

"I don't want you to quit, but I won't say it's not your choice" Kikumaru gave her a reassuring smiled as he held her hand "I understand and I'm sure everyone else will"

"Thanks Eiji" Sakura smiled up at him

* * *

_"Come on Saku-chan, let's sign up for a club!" Mizuiro grinned_

_"I don't know..." Sakura mumbled as she shifted her feet as she looked away_

_"We can do something together, maybe tennis?" Mizuiro suggested_

_"I don't think I'm that good..." Sakura sighed_

_"Then we can play doubles together and I'll cover for you!" Mizuiro grinned as she dragged her friend to the sign ups_

_"I don't want to sign up! Mizu-chan stop dragging me!" Sakura whined as Ryuu just laughed and trailed behind the two "Onii-chan! Help me!"_

_"You'll be fine" Ryuu laughed_

_"Yeah Saku-chan! Don't be a baby!" Mizuiro laughed as she shoved a signup sheet to her friend_

_"I'm not a baby!" Sakura whined_

_"Yes you are, baby sister" Ryuu teased "Now come on, signing up doesn't mean that you'll be playing"_

_"Fine" Sakura grumbled as she took out her pen_

_When the tryouts came around Sakura couldn't help but shift around nervously. Sakura was always playing tennis, but she lacked confidence in her own skill and it didn't help that tryouts were singles and not doubles. Her eyes shifted around and could see that the others were more confident._

_"Hey, you're Ryuu's sister right?" a second year asked with a smiled_

_"Y-yeah" Sakura replied not making eye contact_

_"Oh you're so cute!" the upper classman squealed making Sakura cringe a bit, but blushed embarrassment_

_"T-thanks" Sakura smiled a bit_

_"Don't worry too much about tryouts" the upper classman then smiled reassuringly "Most of these girls are either here to watch the boys team or are just too over confident of their play. You seem to underestimate yourself"_

_"That's what I've been telling her!" Mizuiro groaned_

_"I'm sure that you'll both make the team!" the upper classman waved before leaving the two._

* * *

_Sakura grinned as she ran around the tennis court as the other girls giggled at her. Sakura was able to gain the confidence that she needed with the team._

_"Sakura! Calm down! Practice hasn't even started yet!" a team mate shouted as if to scold her_

_"Sorry senpai!" Sakura grinned as she latched onto Mizuiro's arm_

_"Oi Hikari! Grow up already!" another team mate shouted_

_"I think you need to grow up senpai!" Mizuiro growled back as Sakura tightened her hold on her arm both in fear and anger_

_"Don't listen to her Sakura-chan" another team mate smiled before a tennis ball whizzed by and scratched Sakura cheek_

_"Matsumoto! Watch it! I'm warning you that you are getting close to being kicked off this team!" the vice captain shouted angrily_

_"It was only an accident, my aim seems to be off today" Matsumoto smiled innocently_

_"Accident?" Sakura's voice growled as she snapped making Mizuiro turn to her in shock "Like I'd believe anything that comes from your mouth anymore" Glaring at Matsumoto, Sakura could see the upper classman shiver slightly_

_"What are you going to do about it Hikari?" Matsumoto laughed "Run to your brother?"_

_"Did you know that it was being around people like you, people that didn't stop till I was cowering in fear, that I became such a timid person?" Sakura said calmly still glaring at the upper classman "I'm tired of being scared and being pushed around, so let's just settle this with tennis"_

_"Loser quits" Matsumoto grinned_

_Mizuiro watched worriedly, she had never seen Sakura play so aggressively before . She could see Matsumoto begin to worry as Sakura was barely breaking a sweat. She could hear the force being put behind the ball as Sakura was practically dancing around the court in a teasing manner until she suddenly stopped._

_"We should stop before you hurt your wrist" Sakura said worriedly allowing the tennis ball to weakly bounce past her_

_"I won't lose to you!" Matsumoto shouted angrily_

_"Then I quit" Sakura said tilting her head a bit to the side "I won't be the reason of someone getting hurt for no good reason" Dropping her racquet she began to walk off the court ignoring everyone's protest_

_Ryuu stared at his sister in shock. He could see his sister's personality was off, that she was debating with herself._

_"I quit too then" Mizuiro said calming as she latched onto her friend's arm "I won't stay without her"_

_"Sakura-chan! Don't quit, there's no need!"_

_"Yeah Saku-chan! Let's work this out!"_

_"Sakura-chan!"_

_"Saku-chan"_

_"Ryuzaki-sensei, what are you doing here?"_

_"I heard and saw what happened" Ryuzaki replied "Matsumoto, you should be ashamed of yourself!"_

_"It's fine" Sakura said quietly_

_"No it's not!" Ryuzaki said sternly before sighing as Sakura was unresponsive_

_"Why don't we let her join the boys?" Yamato asked "No, let both of them. I believe that they're skilled enough"_

_"I think that's a good idea" Ryuzaki smiled_

_"Dai-nii..." Sakura gasped in surprise_

_"Come on, let's go introduce you to the team" Yamato smiled as he took her hand as Ryuu walked onto the court to grab her racquet_

_"If it was me... I wouldn't have cared much if you got hurt" he muttered darkly as he walked pasted Matsumoto_

_"Is it really alright?" Sakura asked confused "To be on the boy's team?"_

_"We'll get you two special permission" Ryuzaki smiled "Practice hard and I'm sure you can become regulars as well"_

_"Let's aim for becoming regulars then Mi-chan!" Sakura grinned as Mizuiro grinned back and nodded in agreement_

_"Then we'll go to Nationals together!" Mizuiro cheered_


	15. Leaving

Mizuiro could feel her eyes tearing up as she stared at the home she grew up in for one last time. She knew she was going to miss it more than ever. Wiping the tears that were threatening to fall, she turned to Sanada who was waiting calmly for her.

"Ready?" he asked as he tried to avoid eye contact with her. Mizuiro could've giggled knowing that he was uncomfortable in the emotional situation for her, but was too depressed to even try to force out a small giggle.

"Yeah" she sighed out. Thinking about the memories she had of the neighborhood made her tear up again. She could remember her first bike and when her father taught her how to ride it on his day off, when she first met her friends, and even the amount of times she would walk around just because she could. Just thinking of her father made her let out a sob though, she never felt so betrayed. She couldn't even understand why it happened.

"Mizuiro-san, are you alright?" Sanada asked glancing at her

"I'm alright" she replied with a fake smile before stopping in the middle of the bridge. Glancing over the railing she watched as the water calmly flowed down "Can we stop here for a minute?"

Sanada nodded as he walked back next to her while she took out a jewelry box.

"You know, I never expected this to happen... but then again... who does?" she frowned as she took out the locket in the box and opened it revealing a family picture that was taken when she was younger "We... were just so happy. I guess we really should expect the unexpected..." She stared at the smiling picture of her family before dropping it over the railing and watched it fall into the water below "So much for loving us..." she then mumbled "Alright, let's go-" She was interrupted by the sudden embrace from Sanada "Genichirou-san..."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" he started before Mizuiro stopped him

"No, it's okay." she gave a small smile "I think I really needed that. Let's go, shall we?"

The walk to the train station was silent, but Mizuiro took comfort knowing that Sanada was allowing her to have time to allow herself to think. Her father cared for her, she knew he did, he had never made a move to contact her though. She wished that he would at least attempt to explain himself. She felt that she and her mother were being tossed to the side without an explanation. She could see her mother was putting up a front for her, just to tell her everything is and would be okay.

"Mi-chan!" Sakura shouted as she ran up to the two. Mizuiro hadn't even realized they were at the train station "I'm so glad I got here before you left" she sighed in relief

"Kura-chan..." Mizuiro mumbled surprised

"I know Syu-chan said bye to you already, but the rest of us haven't!" Sakura grinned as the other regulars and her brother walked up behind her

"Don't think you can leave without telling us!" Momoshiro scolded jokingly with a grin

"We stick together, don't we?" Kikumaru cheered

"You guys..." Mizuiro laughed as she went around hugging them all

"We know you need to leave, but we really wanted to say bye and give you this" Sakura grinned as she handed a neatly wrapped box to Mizuiro "It's from all of us" Mizuiro smiled as she took the box "but it's mostly from me, I did all the work" Sakura whispered

"I'm leaving soon as well" Ryuu smiled "So good luck over there, I'll be back again soon to make trouble to you all"

"Good luck to you as well" Mizuiro laughed as Ryuu ruffled her hair

"We need to leave now" Sanada said looking at the time

"Alright, I'll be sure to keep in contact!" Mizuiro grinned as she hugged everyone one last time

"Alright, you guys better go if you want to see Kuni-chan in Germany!" Sakura laughed as she pushed her team away once Mizuiro was out of sight

"You really should come with us Kura-chan" Kikumaru grumbled

"You'll all be fine!" Sakura then laughed and waved to them till they were out of sight. She sighed once she stopped waving and turned back to the direction Mizuiro left in "What do I do now Nee-chan?"

* * *

Mizuiro was a bit tired still when they arrived at Sanada's front door.

"Tadaima" Sanada said as he opened the door

"Oh she's here now?" Mizuiro heard a female voice ask excitedly before running footsteps

"Ayuko, stop running indoors" Sanada sighed

"But I've been waiting so long for you two to return!" Ayuko whined before hugging Mizuiro

"Oh it's so good to have someone other than this uptight cousin of mine to talk too" Ayuko grinned

"You remind me of a friend of mine in some ways" Mizuiro laughed as she hugged Ayuko back

"Your mom took the last open room, so you'll be rooming with me till we clean a room that we used for storage" Ayuko grinned as she pulled Mizuiro down a hallway and stopped at a door

Mizuiro looked around the simple room. A desk was up against the far corner of the room with a bunk bed in the opposite corner. Near the desk was a closet and a dresser was next to the door.

"You get the top bunk" Ayuko smiled as she began to help put some of Mizuiro put some clothes in the closet. "You're clothes are on the right side by the way and the two bottom drawers are yours"

"Thanks" Mizuiro smiled "I hope I'm not taking up too much of your room"

"Of course not!" Ayuko laughed "I don't have much because I don't get to go shopping as much as I would like too"

"Do you go to Rikkaidai as well?" Mizuiro asked as she put some of her clothes in the drawers

"Yeah, I'm in the drama club" Ayuko answered "You should join us! It's so much better than the tennis team. I don't know how the girl's team is at Seishun, but the girls at Rikkaidai were awful personality wise"

"Hmm" Mizuiro sounded as she remembered her short time on the girl's team at Seigaku "The girls at Seigaku aren't too bad, just this one from when I was a first year"

"Well the girls at Rikkaidai think they get first dibs on the guys since they play tennis as well. They really think they're the best too" Ayuko grumbled

"Let me guess, they aren't even that good?" Mizuiro laughed

"They're decent I guess" Ayuko said making Mizuiro laugh more. She could tell by the strain in Ayuko's voice that she was trying to be nice about it

"I guess the drama club won't be a bad choice" Mizuiro smiled as she finished putting her clothes away in the drawers

"Oh your outfits are so cute!" Ayuko squealed as she hanged the last shirt

"Thanks" Mizuiro giggled

"I'll show you around the area tomorrow, oh maybe we can shop a bit too!" Ayuko was excited and nearly running out of the room to go and ask her mother making Mizuiro laugh

"A bit like Sakura... just maybe more girly" Mizuiro giggled to herself


	16. Troubles

Sakura hummed to herself as she walked around. She decided that it was a 'me day' while the others were gone and her mother was busy working. She wasn't finding interest in the shops she passed and she couldn't figure out what she could do by herself. She had seen her friend from America a few days ago, but he was busy spending time with his family and she didn't want to bother them.

"Sa-ku-ra" a voice sang out behind her teasingly. Turning around she saw her former upperclassman and teammate from the girl's tennis team

"Matsumoto" Sakura glared as the former upperclassman continued to smirk at her

"It's been a while hasn't it?" Matsumoto asked, but Sakura could see that she had a plan forming already

"What do you want Matsumoto?" Sakura growled

"Heard Seigaku was doing well in the tournament" Matsumoto said with a shrug "You know, because of you I was kicked off immediately and the girl's team did well that year too?"

"I don't see how it was my fault" Sakura was getting annoyed

"Oh, I heard the little girl has a boyfriend on the team as well" Matsumoto ignored Sakura "I wonder what he would say if he saw these"

Sakura nearly lost her temper and was about to throw a punch at Matsumoto. "So you stalked me and my friend the other day?"

"Oh, he's just a friend? He sure seemed like more, I thought you were cheating on that Kikumaru boy" Matsumoto teased "I feel like taping these up all over Seigaku, just to see his reaction"

"He trusts me, he knows I would never do that" Sakura was clenching her fists and grinding her teeth

"Quit the team and I'll burn these and delete the photos" Matsumoto smirked

"No" Sakura said as she relaxed a bit seeing that she wasn't driven into a corner by Matsumoto's plan

"No?" Matsumoto was surprised "Is that your choice? What a stupid little girl"

"He won't believe those" Sakura said before walking away "He won't" she said more quietly as if too assure herself

* * *

_"Sakura!"_

_"Matt?"_

_Sakura was surprised to see her friend from America running up to her with a smile_

Click

_"I didn't expect to see you here" Matt grinned in English_

_"I should be saying that about you!" Sakura laughed as she replied in English_

_"Well my family decided they wanted to take a trip here and dragged me here as a translator" Matt laughed_

_"Shouldn't you be with them now then?" Sakura asked tilting her head a bit in confusion_

_"Nah, they decided to fend for themselves when they split up to go shopping" he shrugged_

_"Good luck to them, huh?" she laughed as Matt took her hand_

Click

_"But I've heard that my should be sister has a boyfriend now" he teased "So who is this boy that stole your heart from me?" he then joked_

_"Oh! He's the best Matt!" she grinned "I'll try to introduce him to you later!"_

_"Oh the suspense is going to kill me" he groaned_

_"Then here's a kiss to take away the pain" she laughed as she kissed his cheek_

Click

_"Why thank you little miss" he laughed and kissed her back on the cheek_

Click

_"Eww cooties!" she grumbled playfully as she rubbed her cheek_

_"Elementary still are we?" he teased as he pulled her cheeks_

_"No!" she pouted_

_"If you say so little sister, now show me around. Your better brother demands it!"_

* * *

Sakura groaned, she didn't know how long Matsumoto was following her and Matt and she couldn't contacted Kikumaru now since he was busy at the tennis camp. Sakura had no idea what photos were taken, especially since she was close to Matt.

"I shouldn't worry, he knows I wouldn't cheat on him no matter what the other pictures may look like" she told herself "I trust him and he trusts me, ugh why am I so worried?!"

Realizing she couldn't focus on herself anymore, she returned home.

"Sakura? Is that you?" she heard her mother from the kitchen

"Hai" she replied faking a smile

"Your father was wondering if you want to go to America for high school" her mother smiled as Sakura stepped into the kitchen

"Eh?" Sakura was surprised

"He has no problem sending money over, we both just thought that maybe you would want to try schooling in America again" her mother said

"I'll give it a thought" Sakura smiled weakly "I really like Japan after all"

"Alright, remember you don't have to go" her mother smiled as Sakura walked back to her room to give Mizuiro a call of the day's events

"Please answer... Please answer..." Sakura muttered to herself as she laid on her bed

"Moshi moshi, Sakura?" she heard Mizuiro grin on the line

"Mi-chan" Sakura groaned "I'm having issues"

"What kind of issues?" Mizuiro asked worriedly

"I ran into Matsumoto" Sakura sighed "She wants me to quit and she's threatening to post pictures of me and Matt around the school"

"Oh I remember him, the should be brother" Mizuiro almost laughed

"I told her no, but I don't know what Eiji-chan is going to think. He doesn't know Matt and you know how close Matt and I are" Sakura sighed

"Just call him" Mizuiro replied

"I can't, he's at that tennis camp thing too" Sakura grumbled "And they won't be back till school starts again"

"Don't worry, he trusts you" Mizuiro said in a comforting tone

"Yeah... I guess I'm just worrying too much" Sakura sighed "I have the choice of studying in America now for high school"

"That's cool!" she could hear Mizuiro grin

"I think I'll stay in Japan though, I like it here too much" Sakura laughed

After an hour on the phone, Sakura knew she would be able to go to sleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

"Eiji!" Sakura shouted with a smile as she spotted her boyfriend at the tennis courts, she had ended up walking to school by herself since her mother needed help with chores around the house. "Eiji!" Sakura become worried when she realized he wasn't greeting her back and was paying attention to something posted on the bulletin board. "Eiji-chan, what are you looking at?"

"What is this?" Kikumaru asked as he ripped the picture down and pushed in her face

"What?" Sakura was confused as her eyes focused on the picture. Gasping, she stared at the picture in shock not believing that Matsumoto had to nerve to put this up. "It's not what it looks like, I promise! I can explain! He's-"

"He's what?! You're cheating on me aren't you?!" Kikumaru shouted angrily gaining the attention of the other regulars

"No! Of course not! Eiji let me-" Sakura tried to explain but Kikumaru was too hurt and confused to let her

"Don't call me Eiji! Don't even talk to me!" Kikumaru shouted before storming off

"Eiji..." Sakura said softly to herself before she let out a sob and ran into the school building, but she could see pictures of her and Matt everywhere, notes with lying words, and hear whispers of her betraying Kikumaru. All of the lies and words were beginning to make her feel smothered as she made her way to the school roof.

"How could she do this to him?"

"Cheater!"

"I knew he deserved better than her"

"I wonder what other lies she has going"

"Make it stop..." Sakura cried to herself as she slammed the roof door closed and threw herself up against the wall "Why won't you listen to me...?"

Sakura ignored the phone calls and turned her phone on silent knowing it was her worried and confused team members. She could barely think straight and was beginning to get tired of crying. She stared at her phone blinking at the screen continued to show incoming calls and texts even after classes started.

"Maybe leaving is actually a good idea..." she muttered to herself as she laid down to look at the passing clouds

"Thought you would be here" she heard a worried voice "Well... Mizuiro told me actually"

"Mi-chan?" she repeated tiredly as she glanced at Fuji

"I called her to ask where you would probably hide" Fuji chuckled a bit "She told me behind a tree or on the roof, I didn't see you run back out so I decided to check here first"

"Oh" she replied quietly making Fuji frown, he had never seen her so broken

"What happened Sakura? What's with all those pictures around school?" Fuji asked as he sat next to her

"He's just a friend of mine" Sakura said quietly "He's like a brother to me, I was going to introduce him to Eiji-chan before he left for America again" Letting out a sob she let tears fall again "I promise everything is just a lie, but he won't even listen to me!"

"Who would put them all up then?" Fuji's blue eyes were looking down at Sakura worriedly as she stared blankly at the sky while tears continued to fall

"You wouldn't know her..." Sakura's voice cracked "After what happened... no one paid attention to her"

"Her?" Fuji was confused, but made a note to himself to call Mizuiro later "Let's just get you home" Sakura forced herself to sit up and climb onto his back

"You trust me right, Syu-chan?" Sakura asked tiredly as they walked down the stairs and then through the now empty halls. Fuji had a feeling that she hadn't even realized that school was over and most students were gone already

"You never gave me reason not to" he replied

"It's good to know at least someone here trusts me" Sakura smiled a bit as Fuji frowned again

"It's like a villain entered a game and is keeping two lovers apart" he said to himself quietly


	17. Leaving for America

"Mizuiro, I need to ask you something" Fuji had called Mizuiro worried about Sakura and knew the only way to get answers was to ask the best friend

"Hm? Is something wrong? You sound a bit stressed" Mizuiro asked in return

"I guess you could say I'm stressed, I've never seen Sakura cry so much before and I had no idea what to do" Fuji sighed

"Sakura cried? What happened?!" Mizuiro demanded

"Well, there were pictures around school of her and this other guy" Fuji replied "The pictures made it look like she was cheating-" Fuji paused when he heard cursing from Mizuiro

"I can't believe she actually did that!" Mizuiro nearly shouted "Please tell me he didn't believe those pictures"

Fuji sighed knowing that she was talking about Kikumaru "He stormed off angrily before she could even explain, I don't think he'll even listen or want anything to do with her"

"I swear I'm going to hunt her down" Mizuiro growled

"Who?" Fuji asked confused

"Matsumoto, she did this. Sakura told me what happened the other day" Mizuiro sighed

"Matsumoto?" the name was familiar to Fuji, but he wasn't sure why

"Matsumoto, Sayuri. She was a regular for the girl's tennis team a couple years ago" Mizuiro sighed "She used to bully Sakura. When Sakura became less shy and more confident, the bullying got a bit worse. Matsumoto sometimes would hit Sakura with a tennis ball or just even yell at her because Sakura hates being yelled at. She's...she's really the reason we ended up on the boy's team. Sakura snapped, they had a match and Matsumoto's wrist was hurt. Sakura was ready to just quit since the loser had to quit, she just didn't want to see Matsumoto injure her wrist badly"

"Then you two were pulled over" Fuji said more to himself that stating the fact

"Yeah" Mizuiro replied "Sakura mentioned running into her when you guys were at the camp. Threatened to put those pictures up around Seigaku if she didn't quit the tennis team. She trusted Kikumaru and knew he trusted her, so she said no"

"I see" Fuji was sitting on his bed now as he sighed at the mess of the situation

"I wish I was there for her now. I would call Kikumaru to yell at him, but I have a feeling he would ignore my calls" Mizuiro sighed

"He's been ignoring anything with the mention of Sakura" Fuji muttered in annoyance

"Can you just look after her for me?" Mizuiro asked worriedly "She'll probably put up a front, but I'm worried she'll be really out of it"

"I will" Fuji replied, he already planned on it

"Do you know what the others think?" Mizuiro asked weakly

"Most of the school is calling her a liar and a cheater, but the guys are more worried about those two" Fuji said "Sakura missed the whole day without realizing it"

"And Kikumaru?" Mizuiro asked

"Didn't want to hear anything of Sakura, he just tuned everything out and put more anger into tennis practice" Fuji said

"Kunimitsu is probably worried, you said he's back right?" Mizuiro nearly groaned at the situation

"He didn't look like it, but if you looked closely you could see him trying to figure out what could've happened and thinking of where Sakura was" Fuji replied

"I wish I was there" Mizuiro sighed

"How's Rikkaidai?" Fuji asked to change the subject

"Different" Mizuiro grumbled "I'm unofficially part of the drama club"

"Oh, so you act?" Fuji asked

"I happen to be very good at acting" Mizuiro pretended to boast

"No, you're terrible!" Fuji heard a girl's laughter making him laugh as well

"Sanada's cousin pretty much dragged me there" Mizuiro laughed "She's a bit like Sakura in some ways"

"Maybe I can stop by sometime" Fuji smiled

"That'd be nice" he could hear a smile in Mizuiro's voice

After another forty five minutes of talking, Mizuiro reminded Fuji to look after Sakura for her before they said bye and hung up.

* * *

Tezuka looked over at Sakura, he could see her flinch as whispers reached her ears and then cringe as she felt the heat of Kikumaru's glare. He watched as Fuji sent a glare back to Kikumaru when Sakura wasn't looking.

"Eep!" Sakura was surprised when a tennis ball nearly hit her

"Are you alright?" Fuji asked worriedly

"Y-yeah" Sakura stuttered out before she continued to jog like nothing was wrong

Days went by the same, not even the whispers were dying down and Fuji could tell that Sakura was slowly breaking down. Fuji couldn't believe that Kikumaru hadn't even calmed down in the slightest bit. The team was concerned, but neither Sakura or Kikumaru wanted to explain and Fuji didn't feel like it was his place to say. He felt that it would be clearer if Sakura explained the situation herself.

"Kuni-chan, I'm going to America for a bit" Sakura told the captain as she stood in front of him in her uniform since she couldn't stay for practice

"Eh?! You're not leaving are you senpai?" Momoshiro asked worriedly

"No, it's just that I have to option for high school in the states. Papa wants to make sure I'm okay with the school and the move if I decide to go" Sakura explained as she shook her head "I know it's a pretty bad time to leave with the tournament and all, but I don't really play much and I told Ryuzaki-sensei already... I'll be back in a week. I promise!"

"Alright" Tezuka sighed "Have a safe trip"

"I'll see you all in about a week!" Sakura smiled before leaving

* * *

"He's not even going to say bye or don't go to school in America is he?" Sakura sighed as she leaned on her luggage before check in

"I guess not" Fuji said sadly

"I didn't do anything bad, right?" she asked weakly

"Of course not" Fuji smiled "Just give him time to calm down"

"Matt talked me out of thinking of quitting the team" Sakura sighed "Now I can't help but think of quitting again"

"I can't tell you not too... But just give it more thought" Fuji said

"I'll talk to Matt some more then. He said he'll show me around after he's down with school" Sakura sighed before standing up "I need to go now, so I'll e-mail you when I get there"

"Have a safe trip!" Fuji smiled

"I'll bring back stuff for everyone!" Sakura smiled before she left his sight


	18. Arriving in America

"Papa!" Sakura grinned as she ran into her father's arms "It's been so long!"

"Remember, English now" her father laughed

"Sorry, I was just so excited" Sakura laughed switching to English "Hmm did you dye your hair? It's a darker black than I remember"

"I freaked when I saw grey" her father said innocently as he grabbed her luggage

"You screamed in the mirror, didn't you?" Sakura giggled

"He did" Ryuu sighed appearing next to their father "and I didn't get it on camera"

"So how is things at Seigaku?" her father asked as they walked out of the airport and to the parking lot to his car

"Hmm... A bit hard, but school is school" Sakura sighed as she tried to answer but be as vague as she could

"The school gave the okay for you to follow me to class the next couple days" Ryuu said glancing at his sister "Remember I skipped a grade when I got here, so I'm in my last year now"

"Alright" Sakura smiled

"Oh right, do you want to go by your English or Japanese name?" her father asked "Ryuu actually goes by Aidan here"

"I'll go by Lindi then" Sakura replied knowing it'd be weird hearing her given name in an accent

"Alright" her father nodded

* * *

"Sakura wake up, you're coming right?" her brother chuckled as Sakura groaned in return before he pulled her into the kitchen where her father put a cup of coffee in front of her.

"And here's some more for later" their father laughed as he placed a thermos next to Ryuu's bag "Now go get ready so I can drop you two off and go to work"

Sakura stumbled off back to her room to get ready and nearly spilt her coffee on the stairs as she tripped. After she finished getting ready, she was more awake and placed her cup in the sink to wash later.

"I'm ready" she yawned as she put her phone in her bag that she was taking to make sure she had something in case she got bored

"Alright, let's go kiddo" their father laughed as he carried her over his shoulder to the car

"Papa!" she laughed nearly dropping her bag

"Ryuu is going to take you around after school since it's Friday, I think he mentioned Matt and Jake tagging along" her father told her as Ryuu nodded

"Oh! Can we get ice cream?!" she asked excitedly

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get your ice cream" Ryuu rolled his eyes as they got into the car

"Remember to not cause any trouble Sakura" their father joked

"I'll try" Sakura grinned

"Look after her too, Ryuu" their father then said seriously

"I will" Ryuu yawned

Sakura barely had the time to think about sleeping in the car as they pulled up to the high school her brother was currently attending. The brick building was much different than Seigaku and she could feel herself missing everyone already.

"I'll see you two at home" their father grinned before driving off

"Alright Lindi, let's go get your pass for the week" Ryuu sighed as he dragged his sister to the office and ignored the stares they got as they passed by people

"Ryu- I mean _Aidan, _are you popular here or something?" she asked as another girl glared at her

"All unwanted attention" Ryuu sighed "Let me know if anyone gives you trouble alright, the guys can be pigs here" he then said in Japanese

"Alright" she replied in English

After getting her pass, she followed her brother like a lost puppy around the school and to his classes. When the teachers introduced her to the classes, many of the students were surprised that Ryuu even had a sister. She did her best to be invisible since the stares were starting to make her nervous.

"You never told us you had a sister!" one of Ryuu's friends, Ben, exclaimed "Or how cute she is!"

"Dude. Gross. This is my sister we're talking about" Ryuu groaned "And I need to protect her from guys like you anyway"

"What? What's wrong with me?!" Ben whined

"How many girls have you slept with already?" Ryuu asked boredly as Ben coughed in surprise "Exactly. This girl here is as innocent as ever"

"Sakura!" Matt grinned as he placed a bento in front of her "Made it just like I promised"

"Thanks Matt!" Sakura grinned as she opened it to see her favorites "Looks like I taught you well! Itadakimasu!"

"Wait, wait, wait, you know her?!" Ben exclaimed as he pointed at Matt in surprise

"Well she was living here for a couple years" Matt laughed as Jake sat next to Ryuu and tried to nap

"Hi Jake" Sakura grinned as Ryuu got up to buy his lunch knowing that Matt and Jake would look after her

"Hi Lindi" Jake mumbled

"Where's Aidan?" a girl asked confused "He's here before me"

"Oh, he went to get his lunch" Sakura said taking another bite out of her lunch

"Oh. Who are you?" the girl asked

"Aidan's cute little sister Lindi that he was hiding from us in Japan!" Ben cried

"He's just devastated that she's too innocent for him, Alexis" Jake mumbled making her laugh

"Hmm she does look really innocent" Alexis laughed "Does she even have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, she promised to introduce me" Matt laughed "but the time never came since he was away from some camp"

"Things went wrong and he's not talking to me now" Sakura muttered in Japanese to Matt

"Huh?" Ben was confused as ever due to the language switching

"Oh, she just said that my cooking needs to get better!" Matt laughed "Just didn't want to hurt my feelings in front of everyone, but everyone already knows how terrible I can be"

"I'll talk to you later about it" Sakura laughed as Matt nodded

"Hey Alexis" Ryuu said as he sat back down next to Sakura "Where's Niki and what's his face?"

"Niki got sick and Aaron has a meeting" Ben said as Jake took food from Ryuu's tray

"Oh, that's right" Ryuu mumbled as he took a bite from his pizza before letting Sakura take a bite

"She makes me think of a bunny... it's kinda adorable..." Alexis said taking a bite from her own lunch

"I think Matt said the same thing in first grade" Sakura laughed

"And then you pushed me off a swing" Matt grumbled

"Oh yeah, but that was because you declared you were going to store me in a box" Sakura grinned before finishing her lunch

"So why are you here, Lindi?" Alexis asked curiously

"Oh I was thinking about attending school in America, but I'm starting to think I'd miss Japan too much" Sakura laughed

"I think Aidan gets homesick too" Ben whispered "Sometimes he just suddenly rambles in Japanese and I have no idea what he's saying!"

"I think he's pretty comfortable here though" Sakura laughed "Japanese just tends to slips when it's all you speak for years"

* * *

"So how is your friend doing?" Ayumi asked as they walked to the drama club

"Not so good" Mizuiro sighed "She's going to be in the states for a week so maybe the break will be good for her"

"Why is she in the states?" Ayumi asked confused

"Her father lives there and was giving her the opportunity for high school there" Mizuiro explained "Kura-chan just wanted to check it out"

"I hope that things get better for her..." Ayumi sighed

"I swear I'm going to hunt him down if he doesn't listen to her soon" Mizuiro grumbled as she opened the door to for the clubroom

"Well maybe things will calm a bit by the time she gets back" Ayumi said trying to be optimistic

"Syu-kun said the same thing when I called him" Mizuiro sighed

"I get to meet the boyfriend soon, right?" Ayumi asked as she nudged Mizuiro making her laugh

"He said he was going to try and stop by, so yes" Mizuiro shook her head

"Mizuiro-chan, how is it that you can be so great at singing and dancing, but terrible at acting?" Mika mused when she noticed the two walk in

"I'm not that bad" Mizuiro grumbled making the others laugh

"Anyway, we still need to do one more play at least" Akiko said as Mamoru nodded

* * *

Fuji sighed, Kikumaru wasn't even fazed that Sakura was gone. While the other regulars were worried that Sakura just may not come back, Kikumaru continued on like nothing was wrong. The only thing that was still missing was his usual attitude.

"Kura-chan is going to miss part of the Nationals, isn't she?" Momoshiro asked sadly

"Ah" Fuji replied "She doesn't mind though, she didn't think she'd be good enough for finals"

"I don't remember her saying that" Momoshiro said confused

"We've been e-mailing" Fuji replied

"How is she?" Oishi asked

"She seems to be doing better" Fuji smiled "and enjoying herself"

"That's good" Kawamura smiled "I was worried when she stopped smiling"

"If only Eiji calmed down enough to listen to her" Fuji sighed as the others nodded in agreement


	19. Stop Worrying

Sakura groaned as she was dragged into another store by Alexis and Niki while her brother sighed behind them tiredly.

"As a person who doesn't like dresses as well, I have to say a girl needs a few anyway" Alexis laughed "Especially when as cute as you"

"I don't see how it's needed" Ryuu sighed warily "I don't need more guys looking at her"

"Oh just be happy we're not getting her makeup too" Niki teased

"Makeup is too much work" Sakura grumbled as she remembered being forced to put makeup on for competitions a few years ago

"You have actually used makeup before?" Niki asked surprised

"Ah" Sakura sounded "I had to for some dancing competitions a while back"

"Don't forget the showings when you had to sing too" Ryuu added

"Oh yeah, that too" Sakura nodded

"Do you still dance?" Alexis asked as she held a dress up in front of Sakura to get an idea of how it would look on her

"I've been too busy with tennis" Sakura replied as her eyes wandered hoping to find a cute t-shirt instead

"Playing sports is a family thing, huh?" Niki sighed

"Only from Papa's side" Sakura replied as her brother wandered off "Mom's side is a bit... clumsy"

"Clumsy?" Alexis mused as she held onto the dress and began looking for another

"Yeah, so me and Aidan think it's in our genetics that we can get super clumsy when we're tired" Sakura replied

"No wonder he has something with caffeine when he gets tired" Niki said more to herself

"Pretty much" Sakura smiled before being pushed into a dressing room

Sakura stared at the white sundress, the blue dress that would flare out from her hips and the light pink dress that was made from a flowy material she instantly liked. Stepping out each time she tried on a dress, the two girls would squeal saying she looked cute it the dress.

"I don't really like pink..." Sakura sighed as she was dragged around once again to get some things that would go with the dresses to make a 'cute outfit'

"Then we'll get another in another color, but you are getting the pink. It looks good on you" Alexis replied making her try on a cotton blue cardigan, then a white, and black one. After a few belts and shoes they deemed themselves done while Niki found a few tights Sakura could wear with the dresses if she wanted.

"Great, no more shopping" Ryuu sighed in content as they walked back to their fathers main shop since they promised to help out

"We'll see you guys on Monday!" Alexis and Niki waved before they headed their own way

"Bye!" Sakura waved back "Thanks for helping me carry the bags Nii-chan"

"Only because Dad will go on and on about how I shouldn't let you lug all these by yourself" Ryuu replied making Sakura giggle

"These things are crap" they heard when they walked in

"Eh?" Sakura was surprised to see a few things being tossed on the floor of her father's shop

"Hey! Didn't I tell you last time to not come back here again" Ryuu growled dropping Sakura's bags and stepping up to the guy. Sakura sighed as she grabbed her bags and put them behind the cashier counter by her father before going next to her brother and staring at the guy her brother was trying to not punch

"Oh, you play tennis too?" Sakura asked noticing the tennis racquet that was thrown on the ground "This is actually a good racquet, I don't see what's wrong with it" she then said as she checked the strings and nodded in approval

"I can't even play with this thing" the guy said glaring at Sakura causing Ryuu to stand in front of her protectively

"Maybe you're just not good at tennis" Sakura mused to herself quietly as she looked over the racquet for any damages

"I want a refund" the guy said

"Sorry, but you damaged it and can't get a refund" Sakura said holding the racquet out for him to take back "My father personally checks over anything being sold in this store and has his managers check over the other stores carefully so anything being sold is in perfect condition"

"See, you have to leave now Anthony. You're making the other customers uncomfortable" Ryuu said trying to lead him out

"You try playing with something like that, I refuse to take is back!" Anthony shouted angrily shoving Ryuu back

"Alright" Sakura said calmly making her father and Ryuu look at her, her response was too calm which only meant she was angry and didn't want to show it "I play tennis for my school back in Japan, I'll play you with this racquet and you can play with mine. I just had the strings redone so it's like brand new" Walking to the back she grabbed her racquet and tossed it to Anthony who took a look over the dragon design on it

"Nice art" Anthony nodded

"Want to make a bet?" Sakura asked as Anthony glanced at her "If I win, you keep this racquet you keep grumbling about and stop causing a ruckus when you come here. If you win, you can keep mine. How is that?"

"Sounds good" Anthony replied with a smirk as he thought it would be an easy win

"Then let's go" Sakura smiled

* * *

"You sure you want to do this?" Anthony asked as he got ready to serve

"Of course. I did decide on the bet, didn't I?" Sakura tilted her head before getting in position "Keep score, Aidan"

"Ah" Ryuu replied boredly, he really didn't care much for tennis

"Shall I go easy?" Anthony asked teasingly as he served a slow ball

"Did I mention my team is currently going to Nationals?" Sakura asked as returned the ball with more force behind it

"Fast" Anthony gasped in surprise as the ball whizzed past him

"You haven't seen anything yet" Sakura giggled

"15 - Love. Lindi, stop teasing him" Ryuu sighed "I want to go back soon"

"Alright" Sakura sighed

Sakura wasted no time winning a game after her brother told her to hurry up. Anthony kept trying to rally, but he got began to get tired the longer he tried. Ryuu yawned as he continued to watch the ball bounce across the court of the nearby park. Playing was much more fun than watching, but even if he did play he would just get bored. While Sakura had preferred to play tennis, Ryuu would rather play basketball.

"Best two games out of three?" Sakura asked teasingly as she bounced on her feet

"I give up" Anthony panted as he dropped her racquet making her laugh as Ryuu stretched

"Finally" Ryuu yawned "Come on Lindi"

"Hai" Sakura replied as she switched racquets and ran after her brother

"Stop trying to deal with bad people by yourself all the time!" their father exclaimed as they walked into the store

"I'm fine Papa" Sakura sighed "He wasn't that good anyway..."

"What if he hurt you though?! Do you know how much I worried?!" their father continued to rant

"When is he going to realize I'm not five anymore?" Sakura sighed to herself as she tuned their father out

"When you turn forty" Ryuu replied before walking off to help a customer

"Papa, stop it" Sakura groaned "I've taken martial arts classes, and I'm pretty good at tennis. I can take care of myself"

"No! No, you're my baby girl!" their father continued making Sakura frustrated

"I'm not a baby!" Sakura shouted in frustration before storming out

"Lindi! Lindi!" their father shouted after her "Sakura you get back here!" he then demanded in Japanese

"I'm going back!" Sakura replied in Japanese "I'll call Onii-chan from the house phone!"

"Ryuu! Go walk her home!" their father continued in Japanese

"She'll be fine" Ryuu replied in English, trusting that his sister would be fine as the area they were in wasn't dangerous in his opinion

"Go!" their father demanded in English this time

"Alright" Ryuu sighed before grabbing his stuff and letting their father bring the shopping bags home


	20. Talking

Sakura grumbled to herself as she walked her to room while Ryuu just sighed behind her.

"You know he's just worrying about your safety, right?" he asked as he leaned against her doorframe as she fell onto her bed

"I know, but he treats me like I'm five" Sakura grumbled "He doesn't let me do anything on my own"

"Well, you're the baby of the family. What do you expect?" Ryuu asked

"Him to realize I'm growing up" Sakura muttered as she rolled over to face the wall

"I know you can take care of yourself, hell I made sure you could, but you're still a kid Sakura. He's going to worry" Ryuu sighed before walking away

* * *

"Wake up sleepy head! We have some bonding to do!" Matt cheered as he jumped on Sakura's bed

"Go away" Sakura whined "Who let you in away?"

"You're dad as he left for work" Matt replied still jumping

"Don't you have homework to do?" she then asked

"I did it yesterday so I could spend the day with you!" Matt cheered

"What time is it?"

"8 in the morning!"

"What?!" Sakura shot up and hit him with her pillow, effectively knocking him off her bed

"Ow..." Matt groaned "What was that for?"

"It's too early. I'm going back to sleep" Sakura yawned before snuggling back into her blanket

"No!" Matt declared taking her blanket away "I'm buying you breakfast and you are going to explain your boy issues!"

"Why are you so awake in the morning?" Sakura groaned

"Why are you not?"

"I haven't had anything to give me my morning jumpstart yet"

"Oh... then get ready and let's go!"

"No"

"Please?"

"No"

"Please?"

"No"

"Please?"

"Fine!" Sakura sat up hugging her pillow

"Great, meet me downstairs when you're ready!" Matt cheered as he left her room

Sakura yawned as she walked to the bathroom. "I hate mornings..." she then grumbled to herself as she brushed her teeth and then washed her face before going back to her room to change her clothes and brush her hair.

"Finally!" Matt grinned as Sakura made her way downstairs in a blue and white striped shirt with a white vest over it and light blue denim shorts and her blue and white converse shoes

"Why are you more annoying than usual this morning?" Sakura grumbled as they began walking to a nearby diner that Matt liked

"Well, I don't get to spend a lot of time with you" Matt replied stretching "So I'm just excited is all"

"Ah, I forgot to leave Ryuu a note" Sakura groaned "He'll probably worry"

"Which is why I left a note for you" Matt laughed "Now let's start talking about your boy problems"

"Alright" Sakura sighed before explaining what had happened since the time she last saw him in Japan

"I guess I can understand why he's mad" Matt sighed "But he seems like a person that would always listen to you"

"He usually is" Sakura sighed

"Hey don't let a guy bring you down" Matt said patting her head "Just try talk to him when he cools off a bit"

"Alright" Sakura sighed

* * *

"Kura-chan's coming back soon" Mizuiro said to herself as she stretched a bit

"Eiji's still acting a bit off" Fuji sighed

"Do you think he'll talk to her soon?" Mizuiro asked worriedly

"Ah, I just didn't think he would ignore her for so long" Fuji replied before taking a sip of his drink. He had made the time to visit Mizuiro and spend the day with her. They were currently at a diner near the mall they decided to wander around for a bit.

"He's just being stupid" Mizuiro grumbled before taking another bite of her meal

"He's just stubborn" Fuji chuckled a little

"I'd be yelling at him if I was there" Mizuiro muttered

"How did you and Sakura become friends?" Fuji asked curiously "I know you two have known each other for a while by how close you are"

"How did we become friends?" Mizuiro wondered as she thought back "We met when we were kids. We had different kindergarten classes, but we had the same first grade class and by then it was like we were best friends already. We even lived in the same area so we spent a lot of times at each other's house"

"That's interesting" Fuji smiled

"Not really, we never really thought of how or when" Mizuiro grinned "We're close now, so that's all that matters"

"That's true" Fuji agreed

After they finished their meal, Fuji paid and they began to walk around the mall. Mizuiro glanced around stores not really interested. She didn't have a lot of money with her since her mother hadn't given her, her allowance yet. She sighed as she sat down on a bench. Fuji had asked her to wait for him there before wandering into a store making her a bit curious.

"Sorry to keep you waiting" she heard a few minutes later

"No, it's alright" Mizuiro smiled before eying the bag he was holding curiously "What's that?"

"A surprise" he smiled

Mizuiro shrugged it off as they wandered around a bit more. When the sun began to set he walked her back.

"Will you make it back alright?" Mizuiro asked as she glanced at the darkening sky

"Un, my sister is picking me up at the nearby convenience store since she's in the area right now" Fuji replied with a smile

"Oh, that's good" Mizuiro smiled "Thanks for coming to spend the day with me. I've been missing you and everyone even more lately"

"It was no problem" he replied

"I guess I'll see you guys at the Nationals now" Mizuiro grinned "I'll be there cheering when you guys get to the finals for sure"

"Going to watch RIkkadai for a bit then?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen Sei-chan on a tennis court for a while" Mizuiro grinned "I can't miss it"

"Tell him I said hi and good luck"

"I will" Mizuiro looked back at the Sanada household knowing she should go back in even though she didn't want to

"One last thing" Fuji caught her attention as he handed the bag she was looking at curiously hours before "This is for you"

"You didn't have too..." Mizuiro was surprised as she pulled out the necklace that was in the bag. It was a silver M with a red rose vining around it hanging from a thin silver chain "Syu-kun..."

"It's nothing" he grinned before kissing her on the cheek "Good night, I'll see you at Nationals"

Mizuiro stared at the necklace surprised still. She had not expected him to buy something for her, especially something as beautiful as the necklace she was now holding. Looking up she realized that her boyfriend was walking down the sidewalk towards the convenience store

"Syu-kun!" she called out as she raced up to him

"Hm?" he sounded as he turned around only to be nearly tackled into a hug by his girlfriend

"Arigatou" she grinned before kissing him on the lips. Blushing, she pulled away and ran back towards the Sanada household "Good night!"

Fuji stared at her retreating form in shock till he couldn't see her anymore. He could feel a blush forming on his own cheeks before he slowly continued on his way again "Guess we surprised each other" he mused to himself


	21. Back in Japan

After the days passed and Sakura was on her way back to Japan, she realized that she was right. She loved Japan too much to move away.

"Remember to keep in touch with us too" Alexis grinned as she hugged Sakura

"I will" Sakura laughed "Maybe I'll come back to visit"

"Have a safe trip cutie" Ben winked earning a slap on the head from Ryuu

"I'm right here idiot" Ryuu grumbled

"I can't help it! She's leaving and I'm trying to not cry!" Ben whined

"Like how you cried when you found out she's related to Aidan?" Niki teased

"Remember to not talk to strangers, don't accept rides from people you don't know, use the buddy system..." their father rambled on

"Papa, I'll be fine!" Sakura laughed as she gave her father a hug "We'll see each other again before you know it!"

"I don't want my baby girl to leave!" her father sobbed not wanting to let Sakura go

"Papa, I need to leave now. My flight will leave soon!" Sakura laughed as her brother pulled their sobbing father off of her so she could leave

"It was nice meeting you Lindi!" Aaron grinned

"I was nice meeting all of you too!" Sakura grinned as she waved bye

* * *

"Looks like I just made it in time for Seigaku" Sakura grinned "My outfit will probably throw them off a bit too" She was wearing a light pink sundress with black tights underneath and her new favorite pair of light brown boots. "I would never be caught dead in something like this before, though I'm glad Niki took me shopping... This is pretty cute" Adjusting her sun hat to hide her face, she let a small smile form on her face

The sound of tennis balls being hit made Sakura sigh in happiness. She had missed the sound of tennis during her trip, especially since her father declared tennis as a dangerous sport and wanted her to quit. She knew that she wouldn't be able to play, but she brought her tennis racquet for comfort and kept it hidden in her backpack with some of her other things.

_Tadaima_

She texted Fuji and Mizuiro as she watched Ryoma play from a distance. Looking at Kikumaru, she let out a smile.

"He's smiling again" she said to herself before turning back to the match "Higa is so brutal" she then growled as she watched her underclassman continually getting hit by the ball "Ah, now Ochibi is just playing with him... that little bugger..."

"Mada mada dane" Ryoma smiled

"Game and Match, Seigaku Echizen 7 games to 6"

"Good job" she mused in English

_Where are you? I'll meet up with you_

Mizuiro texted back

_You'll find out eventually_

Sakura texted back teasingly as she made her way to the bleachers to get a closer look at Fuji and Kawamura's match.

"That was a signal!" Sakura growled as she glanced at Higa's coach "I was hoping to hide a bit more, but I guess I can't help it" She quickly jumped down to the court level and stood in front of Ryuzaki protectively.

"Kura-chan?!" Kawamura exclaimed surprised as he return the ball that was meant to his their coach

"You should be ashamed with how you play!" Sakura growled ignoring the surprised looks she got

"Sakura..." Ryuzaki was surprised

"Mark my words. Leave before you get hurt, Grandma. My boys won't be able to control themselves." Higa's coach laughed

"Ne, Baldy" Sakura growled "I don't deal well with threats"

"Sakura, calm down" Ryuzaki said firmly as Sakura began losing her temper

"What are you going to do little girl?" he asked amused "My boys are trained in martial arts"

"They're not the only ones" Sakura glared as she took a stance

"Sakura!" Ryuzaki said firmly again as she put her hand on Sakura shoulder "Get a hold of yourself!"

"Tch" Sakura sounded in annoyance as she jumped back off the court to where she left her stuff "I'm watching you Higa" she growled

"You develop players that can't control themselves?" Ryuzaki asked unamused

"It doesn't look like that girl could control herself either" Higa's coach replied

"If she couldn't control herself, your whole team would be holding her back from getting to you" Ryuzaki laughed

"Just because I let you speak freely... Should I do to you what we did to the old coot from Rokkaku?" Higa's coach asked

"What the hell did you do to Ojii?" Sakura growled even more darkly as she slowly turned back "I should just..."

"Sakura!" Ryuzaki shouted noticing that Sakura was a fine line away from losing it

"Answer me!" Sakura was glaring at the Higa coach making him shiver as the tennis club stared in shock at the change in her behavior

"Don't push her" she heard from Higa's side of the court "She's already calculating"

"Sakura, calm down" she heard from behind her as a hand landed on her should. Grabbing the hand of the person she was ready to flip them over her should till she realized it was Tezuka

"Kuni-chan" She muttered as she broke out of her angered state and flinched away from his touch

"Don't let your anger take over you" Tezuka said noticing that she was calmer now

"I... I almost..." Sakura was angry with herself. She almost flipped him and could have hurt him. Stepping back she let her sun hat hide her face "I could've..."

Tezuka sighed as he heard her sniff "You didn't hurt me and I know you wouldn't" he said

"I almost lost it" Sakura sniffed "I... I..."

"Don't worry about it" Tezuka said putting a hand on her shoulder making her flinch again

"I'm sorry" she cried as she grabbed her bag and ran off

"Senpai!" Momoshiro called out surprised that she ran off

"Sakura!" Yuri ran off after her friend worriedly as she saw everything from the court Hyoutei was playing on

Sakura ran blindly. She had no idea where she was going, only that she wanted to get away before she hurt someone. She just couldn't believe she was so close to hurting Tezuka, she didn't even want to know what would have happened if she hadn't snapped out of it.

"Watch it brat" someone growled when she accidently ran into them

"I'm sorry" Sakura winced

"Oh it's you" Matsumoto said boredly as the guy she was with glanced at her

"You know her?" he asked

"That's Sakura, Kaito-kun" Matsumoto said "So Sakura, I heard that you aren't with Kikumaru anymore. I guess you were wrong about trust"

"It's your fault..." Sakura said quietly

"Sakura!" Yuri panted as Mizuiro ran beside her

"Matsumoto!" Mizuiro growled as she ran up to them and pulled Sakura behind her

"Still hiding behind her, are you Sakura?" Matsumoto teased

"Sakura-chan, calm down please" Yuri pleaded as she caught up and held onto Sakura arm

"Oh like that little brat will do anything" Kaito laughed making Sakura snap again

"Sakura-chan!" Yuri gasped worriedly as she lost her grasp on Sakura

"I'm getting so sick and tired of you" Sakura growled not caring when her sun hat flew off from the wind

"It's not worth it, Kura-chan" Mizuiro glanced at Sakura who was glaring at the two people in front of them. Matsumoto visibly flinched at the glare as Kaito scoffed

"What can a little girl like her even do?" he asked

"Want to see?" Sakura asked with a blank stare

"Yuri, I would step away from Sakura" Mizuiro said seriously glancing behind her "This might not end well"

"W-what should I do?" Yuri asked worriedly

"Just leave it to me" Mizuiro said as Sakura quickly made her way around her and attempted to punch Kaito

"What the hell?!" Kaito exclaimed as her fist stopped just an inch away from him

"Mi-chan" Sakura growled "Let go"

"You know you're going to regret this, so stop Sakura" Mizuiro growled back

"I'm tired of her and his attitude!" Sakura yelled breaking out of Mizuiro's hold and glared at her friend

"Just let it go Sakura" Mizuiro said calmly

"Back off Mizuiro" Sakura glared

"Kura-chan..." someone sighed taking a hold of her

"Let me go!" Sakura yelled as Mizuiro sighed recognizing the person

"Yamato buchou..." Yuri gasped surprised to see the former tennis captain

"Geez Kura-chan, you got stronger didn't you? Should I be worried that you'll be like your brother?" Yamato joked

"Let me go Dai-nii" Sakura groaned as she kept thrashing when he only held her tighter

"So I heard you were causing Kura-chan some trouble" Yamato said glancing at Matsumoto

"I don't know what you're talking about" Matsumoto smirked

"What are you doing here Yamato?" Kaito glared

"Oh, it's nice to see you again Kishinuma-san" Yamato smiled lightly "I thought I'd just see how my old club members were doing until I saw this little one run off. You see she almost lost it earlier and I was worried it would happen again. Do you know how hard it is to hold her back? I'd hate to see what would happen if you were still around and I let go"

"Let's go, Sayuri" Kaito said taking a hold of her hand and pulling her away as she stared at Yamato "We shouldn't cause any more trouble"

"Kaito-kun!" Matsumoto was surprised to see her boyfriend not stand up to the former captain

"Sayuri!" Kaito said firmly as he pulled her away

"Now , now Kura-chan" Yamato said calmly "Look they're leaving, just calm down now"

"Let me go!" Sakura glared at her former captain "I'll show them to stop messing with me!"

"Sakura..." Yuri took a step towards them worriedly as Mizuiro blocked off Sakura's sight of the two people leaving "It's alright Sakura, come on we can go get ice cream or something"

"Sakura... what did sensei tell you before?" Yamato grunted as Sakura's elbow hit his ribs

"_Sakura, remember what sensei said? Rage will get you nowhere!" Ryuu tried to reason "Rage will just eat your heart, do you want that?!"_

"I remember..." Sakura said softly as she stopped struggling "I'm sorry" she then sobbed as she fell to her knees

"It's alright now Kura-chan" Yuri sighed in relief as Yamato picked up Sakura's sun hat and placed it back on her head

"Come on, enough tears" Yamato grinned "You're cuter with a smile"

"Shall we go watch Seigaku win?" Mizuiro smiled as she helped Sakura back to her feet

"Go on Sakura" Yamato patted her head "I'm sure their worried about you"

"Will you come with us?" Sakura asked quietly as she looked up to her former captain

"No, I only came to sneak a peek at how the team is doing" Yamato smiled "and it looks like everything is fine. They'll do well, I know it. Don't worry about Kikumaru, he'll come around sooner or later"

"Alright" Sakura sighed as she looped her arm with Mizuiro's

"Take care" he waved before walking off

"Let's go back Mi-chan" Sakura sighed feeling numb now


	22. Family

Mizuiro sighed as she glanced at Sakura, she was sure that she was beating herself up for snapping twice in such a short amount of time. Sakura didn't even look up when the Seigaku regulars called out to them.

"You should probably go back to Hyoutei before they worry" Mizuiro said to Yuri

"No, I'll stay a bit longer" Yuri disagreed "They'll understand"

"Alright" Mizuiro gave a small smile

"Is everything alright now?" Kawamura asked worriedly

"For the most part" Mizuiro sighed

"Is she alright?" Oishi asked worriedly as he took a look at Sakura

"She's fine... She just may be feeling a bit numb for a while. She told me it happens if she snaps really bad and seeing how she snapped twice..." Mizuiro sighed

"Kura-chan, don't worry. It wasn't your fault" Oishi smiled at her in hopes to see her smile again, but she didn't even react to him

"Kura-chan" Kikumaru called out "Kura-chan I'm sorry, I should have listened to you"

"Eiji-chan?" Sakura said quietly as she looked up to see his worried face

"I was just so mad, I wasn't thinking straight... and then your friend e-mailed me" Kikumaru explained

"Matt did?" Sakura asked as she felt her senses becoming more clearer

"And your brother too! He said that if I didn't read your friend's e-mail, he would come back to Japan to make sure I did and that I apologize to you" Kikumaru continued making Mizuiro giggle a bit as an image of Ryuu beating him up instead of making him read the e-mail "So will you please forgive me?"

A sob escaped Sakura before she nodded "Y-yeah" she said "I forgive you"

"I must be the luckiest guy alive!" Kikumaru cheered as he took Sakura in a hug before spinning her around. Mizuiro and Yuri laughed as Mizuiro slipped out of Sakura's grasp

* * *

Sakura was feeling better by the time the match against Hyoutei came around. It was almost like her and Kikumaru were inseparable again which made Mizuiro smile. Not to mention that Sakura was wearing Kikumaru's jacket and the size was a bit too big for her, but Mizuiro couldn't help but think that Sakura looked pretty adorable nonetheless.

"Senpai, why aren't you playing with us?" Momoshiro asked curiously

"Ah, it's because I was gone for that week" Sakura replied "It's okay though, I'm sure that you all practiced hard while I was gone! You guys deserve to play more than I do!"

"Don't say that senpai! You're an amazing player, especially with that serve!" Horio exclaimed

"Actually... about that serve..." Sakura laughed nervously "Continuous use makes my wrist hurt a bit and then slows the ball a bit making it more obvious where the ball is going"

"E-eh?!" she heard from around her

"It's nothing serious!" Sakura reassured "I just have to do this movement with my wrist as I hit the ball and it gets a bit tiring after a while! I really enjoy that serve, sometimes I just forget it hurts after a while!"

"Senpai..." Momoshiro sighed wearily "Please be more careful..."

"I'll try" Sakura grinned innocently

"Sakura-chan, did you shrink during your trip? Last time I could've sworn your fit your jacket" Sakura heard someone tease from behind her

"Yuu-kun!" Sakura grinned as she turned to see Oshitari and the rest of Hyoutei with him. Letting go of Kikumaru she tackled her friend in a hug "I'll have you know, this is my boyfriend's jacket"

"Oh? Is that so?" Oshitari asked slightly surprised

"Yep!" Sakura grinned as she latched back onto Kikumaru's arm

"I guess I should've known" Oshitari chuckled

"Good luck" Sakura then grinned at all of Hyoutei

"It's Seigaku that will be needing the good luck" Atobe smirked

"If you say so..." Sakura replied as she tilted her head to the side as if confused why Seigaku would even need the good luck

* * *

"Yu-chan, shouldn't you be by Hyoutei?" Sakura asked confused as her friend from Hyoutei stood beside her behind the court fence

"I haven't been able to see you for a while, so I want to be with you while I can" Yuri replied with a smile

"Okay" Sakura giggled as she watch the match between Momoshiro and Oshitari begin "Uwah, Momo-chan more in tune with nature, it changed his play! Sugoi!"

"I've never seen something like it in tennis before" Yuri gasped

"I didn't think would they improve this much when I left" Sakura said amazed "I guess Hyoutei needs to be more careful now huh?" Sakura then teased the Hyoutei student as they continued watching the match

"Maybe it's Seigaku that needs to be more careful" Yuri then teased as Oshitari took control of the game

"Momo!" Sakura gasped Momoshiro ran into the pole near Sakura was standing by "Momo-chan?!"

"Momo-chan-senpai!" Horio exclaimed surprised

"G-Game, Hyoutei. 5 games to 4"

"Momo! H-hey, are you alright?!" Kawamura asked worriedly as the team went to check on him

"He's bleeding!" Horio said worriedly

"M-Momo-chan..." Sakura gripped the fence worriedly before running to the gate to check on her underclassman, clutching her bag to her since she had her first aid kit with her "H-hey, let me take a look"

"Sakura-senpai..." she heard as she brushed past a few of the regulars

"What is it with you guys and being more reckless than _me_?" Sakura shook her head as Momoshiro began to sit up as Ryoma took his racquet "Momo, can you look at me for a second?"

"Huh?" Momoshiro sounded as he looked at her confused

"You hit that pole pretty hard, I just want to make sure you don't have a concussion" Sakura replied as she watched his movements "How are you feeling?"

"Just a headache, but that's to be expecting from that huh?" Momoshiro laughed like it nothing big

Sakura sighed "I'm no docter... but you seem okay. You're still alert and all"

"Don't worry Senpai, I'm tough!" Momoshiro laughed as Sakura took out her first aid kit

"And always reckless!" Sakura scolded "I know I can be a bit reckless at times, but you guys always make me panic so much! If I'm panicking, then Mi-chan must be having constant heart attacks!"

"Gomen Senpai" Momoshiro apologized

Sakura sighed before holding a piece of gauze on his injury and using another to start wiping away the blood from his face "Just be more careful, a tennis career can end early with so many injuries... I know I sound like my father, but you guys are my family too and I get scared when someone gets hurt"

"Aww Kura-chan! We love you too!" Kikumaru grinned as he nearly tackled her down

"E-Eiji-chan!" Sakura whined "I love you too, but I need to patch up Momo-chan before I let him play again!" Kikumaru grumbled a bit before letting go and allowing Sakura to continue cleaning the underclassman's face and injury before putting a bandage on it

"Thanks Senpai" Momoshiro grinned as he stood up and Sakura put the dirty gauzes in a different bag to throw away after and Ryoma handed his racquet back to him

Sakura sighed as she leaned on the fence near Yuri "These guys..."

"It was nice to see your motherly side again, Saku-chan" Yuri giggled as Sakura whined

"Yu-chan! I need chocolate now!" Sakura cried out "It'll make me feel better"

"Don't worry Kura-chan! I'll make you feel better, nyan!" Kikumaru grinned as he surprised his girlfriend with a hug

"You two are so cute together!" Yuri laughed at Sakura's surprised face

"E-Eiji-chan!" Sakura gasped before playfully whacking him for scaring her

Settling down, they watched at the match began again. Sakura grinned as she watched Momoshiro's play changed back to his usual one, but she also noticed the Hyoutei player's play change as well and neither were giving up.

"This game... is amazing" Sakura gasped out in amazement. Both Kikumaru and Yuri could see that Sakura was pulled into the game by the look in her eyes "I can't believe Mi-chan isn't here to see it!"

"Game set, Hyoutei. 6 games to 4"

Sakura smiled as she watched the two players exchange words before Momoshiro was helped up. She couldn't help but think that the game was still close and could have gone either way for the players

"Saku-chan, let's go get something to drink and a snack" Yuri said catching her friend's attention

"A-ah, alright" Sakura grinned before giving Kikumaru a quick kiss on the cheek and left the court area with her friend


	23. Mirror

Yuri hummed to herself as she insert yen into the vending machine. Sakura had gone to buy snacks from the convenience store down the street claiming that Yuri would take too long if she went to get the snacks instead. Yuri had decided to get water for herself and chocolate milk for Sakura knowing that the hyper girl was bound to buy chocolate and want more.

"Oh, it's you" Yuri heard someone say as if disgusted behind her. Turning around she realized it was her classmates who just happened to be part of the Atobe fan-club

"Yamaguchi-san" Yuri with a smile "It's a nice day isn't it?"

"Oh cut the act" Yamaguchi glared "I really don't understand why Atobe-sama favors you"

"I don't understand what you mean" Yuri replied confused

"He doesn't give us, _his fan-club,_ the time of day" Yamaguchi continued to glare "Yet, he'll listen to anything you say, take any gift _you give him_" Yuri tensed as her classmate began to pace around her "You don't even call him _Atobe-sama_ anymore because he said to call him _Keigo-kun_"

"I-I don't see the problem" Yuri stuttered worriedly as she eyed her classmate nervously

"Everything!" Yamaguchi shouted "You're not even dedicated! You run off after that Seigaku girl after she caused all that trouble!"

"She's my friend!" Yuri defended

Sakura grinned as she caught sight of her friend. She didn't take long since she practically ran to the convenience store and back and still got their favorite snacks. She was about to call out to Yuri, but stopped herself after seeing that the girl she was talking to was not a friend.

"And from an enemy school!" Yamaguchi shouted "Don't tell me you're supporting Seigaku more than Hyoutei"

"I'm not" Yuri said softly. Sakura's grip tightened on the plastic bag, Yuri never liked confrontation and she could tell her friend was beginning to get uneasy

"Maybe you should just go back to Seigaku" Yamaguchi frowned

"Oi!" Sakura shouted angrily "Leave her alone! If you have a problem with me, you talk to me. Not her."

"Tch, Seigaku trash" Yamaguchi spat "Go back to cheering your pathetic team. You have nothing against Hyoutei"

"I thought Hyoutei made sure to keep their students humble" Sakura laughed "You are probably the worst person I could meet from Hyoutei"

"Says the girl who almost hit her captain" Yamaguchi smirked making Sakura abruptly stop laughing

"...Sakura" Yuri said worriedly

"No wonder he ignores you all" Sakura said after taking a deep breath "You have such a fake personality. He probably knows you're just sucking up to him for his attention. That Atobe, he's not just good looks you know. He sees things that you try to hide, like your personality for example. No wonder he likes Yu-chan more than that blind fan-club of yours"

"Excuse me?" Yamaguchi said angrily

"Yu-chan, doesn't just like his looks. She's likes his personality, tries to be his friend more than trying to become his girlfriend. She doesn't suck up, she really is just that nice. He sees that she knows there's that chance he won't want her." Sakura continued as she tilted her head in a curious manner "I bet you all think that he's yours, right?"

"What do you know?!" Yamaguchi growled out as she walked forward till she was in front of Sakura

"I do know that he's also right over there looking" Sakura gave a small smile as she turned to look over at the Hyoutei captain

"Yamaguchi, what do you think you're doing?" Atobe asked as he gave her a stern look

"N-nothing Atobe-sama" Yamaguchi panicked as she took a few step back

"Keigo-kun..." Yuri was surprised

"Don't worry about it Kei-chan" her lips twitched a smile as she notice the captain twitch in annoyance at the nickname "She just doesn't like me very much and was letting me know, I think you should just let her off this time"

"Oh? Is that so Hikari?" Atobe asked as Yuri walked over and looped her arm through Sakura's

"But if she confronts Yu-chan with her opinions about me again..." Sakura trailed as she glanced at the captain before walking off with her friend as the captain nodded, he knew that Sakura would probably be less polite the next time

Atobe walked in the direction of Yamaguchi as Yuri and Sakura walked past him.

"A-Atobe-sama" Yamaguchi stuttered till he just walked right past her to the vending machine and bought a bottle of water and continued back to the courts as if the girl standing in shock was not even there.

* * *

"I wonder why Keigo-kun was there" Yuri wondered to herself

"Maybe he was thirsty?" Sakura guessed with a shrug

"...He would've had one of the underclassmen get him something though..." Yuri said confused as they watch the Hyoutei captain make his way back. Sakura tilted her head curiously as she watch the captain walk by while she continued to think. Then something in her head clicked as she caught the captain glance their direction quickly, or to be more precise, Yuri's direction as the Hyoutei girl shifted her gaze back to the tennis court. Sakura grinned before she burst out laughing catching attention of both schools.

"What's so funny?" Yuri asked surprised by the sudden laughter

Sakura looked at the Hyoutei captain before laughing some more and shaking her head wondering how she didn't catch it sooner "I-it's nothing" she laughed out

"You're so weird Saku-chan" Yuri shook her head. Sakura could see Atobe twitch slightly because of her making her laugh even more.

"N-not r-really" Sakura continued to laugh "M-Mi-chan would be l-laughing t-too"

"I think your girlfriend lost it" Yuri turned to Kikumaru

Sakura was practically gasping for air once she calmed down, but giggles still escaped for a few minutes as she avoided looking at the Hyoutei captain now.

"What was that about, Kura-chan?" Kikumaru asked curiously as Sakura bit into her cookie

"I-I'll tell you later" Sakura giggled leaving her boyfriend still confused, but he decided to just shrug it off for now and focus on the court.

Sakura grinned as she continued to watch her team play, but her interest shot up when Tezuka stepped onto the court. It felt like it had been too long since she last saw him play, and she actually admired his tennis skills since she had first saw him play.

"K-Kabaji?" Sakura stuttered as she saw Tezuka's opponent. She wouldn't lie that Kabaji's structure had actually made her feel a bit nervous when she was near him. Sakura began to get confused as she watched the ball being hit back and forth on the court once the match began. "Something feels weird..."

"This is strange. He should've have at least a chance to play the Zero Shiki Drop Shop" Fuji said

"A mirror?" Sakura tilted her head as the play slowly processed in her mind gaining her team's attention as she bit into a brownie

"Ah! I get it" Fuji said surprised, Sakura's comment helping him understand "He can't use it even if he wants too"

"He can't?" Kawamura asked confused

"Kabaji's... copying him" Sakura felt uncomfortable watching the match now. A good match with Tezuka playing was interesting to her, but watching someone copy him was just creepy to her.

"It's like when he copied Kawamura-senpai's Hadoukyuu before" Ryoma commented. Sakura zoned out of the conversation for a bit as she focused on the match, watching someone copy her captain's movements gave her uncomfortable chills just because it was so weird.

"K-Kabaji Zone!" Horio exclaimed as Kabaji had also copied Tezuka Zone

"D-Don't say that!" Sakura yelled at her underclassman "It makes my skin crawl!"

"H-hai, s-sorry senpai" Horio stuttered surprised at his upperclassman's outburst

"It sounds so gross to me" Sakura grumbled making Fuji chuckle

"It kind of does, doesn't it?" he replied

"This match is just too weird for me" Sakura shivered next to Yuri who just giggled but agreed as they continued to watch. Kabaji continued to copy Tezuka when returning the ball and it was only getting on Sakura's nerves. It was probably the weirdest match she had ever seen and she wasn't even amused one bit. It was just making Sakura want to yell at Kabaji to stop copying her captain, but she knew it wouldn't change anything. A small smile formed on Sakura's lips when she noticed Tezuka began using Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami, it just showed how serious Tezuka was and she didn't think that Kabaji would be able to copy it. It was something that Tezuka had to train hard to be able to do, so Sakura didn't see a possibility of Kabaji being able to copy it. Kabaji was shocked as Tezuka returned the ball with double the power, it was like he froze while trying to process what had just happened when the ball passed him. The game had continued like that till it was five games to zero in Tezuka's favor allowing Sakura's nerves to rest a bit.

"The winner will be Hyoutei" Kabaji said through concentration making Sakura shiver as he was very quiet till that moment

"H-he's not doing what I think he is right?" Sakura gripped the fence as she tried to have a better look while her nerves shot up again "T-that can't be possible right?!"

"No way... Has he even copied the Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami?" Kawamura was taken aback

"You took your time, Kabaji" Atobe said "It seems it was difficult for you to copy it"

"The winner will be Hyoutei!" Kabaji said with each hit he made and continued to add power into the ball as he returned it surprising Seigaku

"The power was doubled again!" Kaidoh exclaimed

"I-I had no idea he could do such a thing" Yuri gasped "I-I mean I've seen how he plays... I just never knew he could copy a play to that extent"

"I-I really don't like this!" Sakura exclaimed, eyes wide in shock of just how much Kabaji copied from Tezuka

"Keigo-kun must have planned this" Yuri said quietly, but loud enough for Seigaku to hear her

"...because then it'd be like having Tezuka battle himself..." Sakura gasped

"...and it's not like you can win against yourself" Yuri finished

"Ah" Sakura sounded as she looked at the quickly darkening sky. She had heard thunder rumbling in the distance

"Saku-chan?" Yuri was surprised as her friend quickly latched onto her arm. Thunder and a small squeak from her friend answering her silent question. Sakura quickly dropped to her knees as she closed her eyes and tried to cover the noise of thunder with her hands. The rain started to pour down and while Yuri was hoping to take shelter under a nearby tree, she knew she couldn't leave her friend now understanding just how much she feared the loud noise of thunder. Sakura continued to whimper quietly, not wanted to alarm the team members of her fear even though she had a feeling that Kikumaru was unsure of if he should go over to her or not.

"Saku-chan, hey it's alright" Yuri tried to comfort Sakura

"Kura-chan..." Mizuiro said worriedly as she quickly tried to lead her away from the court knowing she didn't like many people knowing her fear of thunder. She had been spending time with Rikkaidai in the area, but rushed over once she realized a storm was about to start "Come on Kura, let's just move a little bit" Sakura just cringed as another loud boom of thunder sounded and making her too scared to move

"Let me help" Yukimura said appearing next to his cousin and easily picked up Sakura as Mizuiro signaled to Kikumaru that they would take care of her. Sakura let out a whimper as she began to grip onto Yukimura's shirt

"I'm sure the storm will stop soon Kura-chan" Yukimura said hoping to help her calm down as they walked to a nearby tree and hid her from the views of others

"There's some way to help her calm down right?" Yuri asked Mizuiro

"Ryuu used to have her listen to music before... but he said it hadn't been helping much lately..." Mizuiro replied as she pulled Sakura into her arms as if Sakura was just child

"Mi-chan..." Sakura cringed as another loud boom of thunder sounded "I don't like this" she whimpered

"It's alright Kura-chan, we got you" Mizuiro said softly glad that the others were too focused on the match to notice their disappearance. Yukimura frowned as tears slipped down Sakura's cheek before wiping them away. Sakura looked up at him as he gave her a small smile and wiped away another tear

"Arigatou Sei-chan" Sakura sniffed

"We're like family, aren't we Sakura?" Yukimura chuckled "Family always looks out for each other" Sakura gave a small smile and nodded.

"Think you'll be alright Saku-chan?" Yuri asked as the thunder faded

"I-I think so" Sakura replied with a shaky voice as she slowly stood up "Thanks for staying with me" Sakura then looked down embarrassed

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about Kura-chan" Yukimura chuckled "Everyone has their own fear" Sakura looked back up at him and gave a small smile as she nodded. Hearing Kabaji's frustration got them all curious and Sakura slowly left the shelter of the tree as she glanced at the still raining sky as if the thunder was going to suddenly come back.

"Game and match to Tezuka. 7 games to 6"

"With this Seigaku is 2-1. We're one win away from the semifinals!" Momoshiro cheered

"But the rest of the matches might not be held with this rain..." Kawamura sighed

"Looks like the referees are busy discussing it" Fuji said

"Next! Get on the court!" Shishido shouted as Hyoutei cheered

"Everyone, the semifinal match between Seishun Gakuen and Hyoutei Gakuen has been suspended due to rain" was heard through announcement

"Hey, hey, we should be able to play with just this drizzle!" Shishido shouted

"It's fine Shishido-san. Let's save the fun until tomorrow" Ootori told him making his partner grumble silently

Sakura nearly sighed in relief, all she wanted to do at the moment was to return home and have some hot chocolate. She was still worried the thunder would return.

"Are you alright Kura-chan?" Kikumaru asked worriedly as the two schools began to leave

"Yeah, they stayed with me" Sakura smiled as she turned to her friends

"That's good" Kikumaru sighed in relief

"So how did Kuni-chan win?" Sakura asked quietly

"Kabaji tried to keep copying him, but he couldn't handle the sudden weather change" Kikumaru replied

"I guess that storm was on our side..." Sakura nearly cringed at the thought of the thunder

"Maybe" Kikumaru chuckled as Mizuiro, Yukimura, and Yuri waved bye before running off to keep from getting more wet because of the rain

"You're all wet" Sakura giggled as she poked his shirt

"At least my jacket helped to keep you from being soaked though" Kikumaru grinned making Sakura laugh. The jacket was a bit soaked through, but she wasn't dripping wet like her boyfriend.

"All I want right now is to hide under a blanket with hot chocolate" Sakura sighed

"Then let's go!" Kikumaru laughed as he dragged her away from the tournament location

"Eiji-chan!" Sakura laughed as she just allowed him to lead her to where ever he decided they should go


	24. Shaking Data

Sakura was gasping for breath as she leaned on a wall tiredly. She was had been practicing without the other regulars, besides Inui, knowing. She wanted didn't want to hold the team back if she was needed for the semi- finals. The thought of not playing with Mizuiro felt weird to her, but she knew she still couldn't let her team down. She was missing the last couple matches, but Mizuiro had promised to record them for her while the others believed that she came down with a small cold from the rain.

"Just a couple more miles, a few more exercises and I'm done" Sakura panted as she tried to tell herself it was only a little more before she could have a well-deserved day off

* * *

By the end of day, Sakura could only feel pain with every moment. When Mizuiro had showed her what happened between Ryoma and Atobe, she was crying from laughing and the pain of her abs.

"At this rate, you'll be in better shape than I am" Mizuiro mused

"It's hurts so much though" Sakura groaned as Mizuiro poked her stomach

"But it only means you're getting stronger" Mizuiro then poked her arm

"Keep poking me and I'll bite your finger off" Sakura playfully glared

"I should probably get going anyway" Mizuiro laughed as she rolled off of Sakura's bed "Guess I'll see you at the finals then"

"You better cheer for us louder than you cheer for Rikkadai!" Sakura grinned as Mizuiro nodded

"Of course" Mizuiro laughed before leaving

"Here's some pain reliever" her mother smiled after Mizuiro left

"Thanks" Sakura grinned gratefully

"You sure are working hard" her mother said as she took the glass of water back

"I have to do what I can" Sakura grinned

"I'll start to get the bath ready for you" her mother gave her a soft smile

"Thanks" Sakura grinned not really wanting to wait to be able to relax in a nice hot bath

Sakura was told by Inui to continue training through the semi-finals much to her annoyance, but Yuri told her that she would record the matches for her as Mizuiro focused on Rikkaidai. She was promised to be allowed to play during the finals since according to Inui, she would be caught up on training and would be the best time to see how much she improved.

She found herself spending more time at the gym surprising the men with her planned workouts by Inui and jogging or running by hikers on popular hike trails. On days she felt that she was able to do more, she would add something to the list of exercises she was told to finish. To her knowledge, the others still believed that she was getting over a cold that had managed to get worse.

When it came to the well-deserved breaks Inui gave her so she was rested enough for the finals, she spent most of it sleeping. Her mother had helped and encouraged her as much as she could even though she was worried if Sakura was pushing herself more than needed.

* * *

"Senpai, it's good to see you back on the court with us!" Momoshiro grinned

"A-ah" Sakura sounded before snickering "Momoshiri"

"Sakura-senpai!" Momoshiro grumbled not believing that she knew about the weird match he had during the semi-finals

"Taka-chan, are you alright?" she then asked her bandaged teammate

"Yeah, don't worry about me Kura-chan" Kawamura smiled

"That's good!" Sakura grinned "Oh yeah, where's Ochibi?"

"We're not too sure… and we need him for the line-up…" Oishi told her

"That's not good…" Sakura groaned as she looked around "I think I have an idea for the time being though" she grinned as she looked over the freshmen "Horio, pretend to be Ochibi for a bit. I bet he's just running late"

"E-eh?!" Horio exclaimed

"Just wear this hat and jacket alright" Sakura told the underclassman as she shrugged off her jacket and tossed him a hat she had in her tennis bag that used to belong to her brother. "It's not like Rikkadai will mention anything, but I'm not too sure what the officials with think"

"I-I" Horio stammered

"Just don't freak and run off or anything" Sakura ignored him "Stand tall and confident, don't let them intimidate you. Though I guess it'll be a problem if he really doesn't show… Not to be brutal or anything, but Sei-chan would crush you" she shivered "I'm not going to lie… I… can only think of a couple people that would be able to play against him…"

"I'll go look for Echizen!" Momoshiro called out before running out of the arena

"W-what d-do you m-mean?" Horio stuttered

"Sei-chan may look kind and gentle… but his tennis style is anything but" Sakura said quietly "He let me win a lot when we were younger, so I told him to play seriously… and to think that was before he even started mastering his style" Sakura shivered

"Come on, we're about to start" Ryuzaki called out

"Alright, let's go Ochibi replacement!" Sakura grinned as she dragged the underclassman to the court making him yell out in surprise

"Beginning now, the final match. Rikkadai Fuzoku vs. Seishun Gakuen. The match will commence."

"Stand up straight, don't' look like you're about to die" Sakura elbowed her Ochibi replacement

"The first match, Single Three! Rikkadai Fuzoku's Sanada vs. Seishun Gakuen Tezuka!"

"Horio, you'll never become a regular if you can't even pretend to be confident in front of someone you find intimidating!" Sakura scolded once they stepped off the court

"Fifteen - Love"

"E-eh?" Sakura turned around shocked as she felt the force of the ball that went past her captain "K-Kuni-chan doesn't seem too pleased with what happened…" Sakura muttered as she looked over at him

"Yeah" Fuji agreed

Sakura continued to watch the singles match in amazement, Tezuka wasn't holding back and neither was Sanada. While it didn't look like their captain was doing well, she could tell that Tezuka was calculating and planning.

"Sakura-senpai, are you alright?" Horio asked causing the team to at least glance at her

"D-don't you feel it?" Sakura asked shocked as she continued to rub her arms "I-it's feels almost like there's electricity in the air because of Gen-chan"

"Interesting…" Inui said to himself before writing something down

"I think Yuri is telling me to go over there" Sakura muttered as she walked off to go to where Hyoutei was watching

"Senpai?" Kaidoh asked

"I'll be back" she grinned

"Kura-chan, Keigo-kun wanted to talk to you" Yuri told her confused before handing over some sort of walkie talkie

"Moshi moshi, Kei-chan?" Sakura said confused

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm helping to search for your precious underclassman" Atobe chuckled

"E-eh?!" Sakura was surprised before grinning "Aww thanks Kei-chan! We owe you huh?"

"You can start by not calling me that" he told her

"Alright Kei-kun!" Sakura giggled making him groan

"Just give it back to Yuri" he told her sighing

"Oh, you're on a first name basis now?" Sakura teased making her friend blush and the Hyoutei tennis team laugh

"Just go away Hikari" Atobe groaned

"Hoi hoi" Sakura giggled before handing the device back to her friend and running back to her team

"What was that about senpai?" Horio asked

"Kei-kun is helping to look to Ochibi" Sakura told them with a smile "What did I miss? I wasn't paying much attention when Kei-kun was talking to me"

"Tezuka is pushing the balls out" Inui told her

"T-that's possible?" Sakura was surprised before turning to the court to watch her captain "K-Kuni-chan's hurting himself again" she then said quietly

Sakura heard Oishi falling to his knees while Tezuka continued to fight back. She was sure he was just as distraught as she was, but she wasn't even sure what to do as she watched Tezuka endure the pain.

"Arai! Get an ice pack ready! Hurry!" she heard Oishi call out before footsteps running off

"K-Kuni-chan…" Sakura was lost for words "Of course you would do anything to make sure we win even if it meant having to give tennis up…" she then cried

"Kura-chan…" Oishi gave her a soft smile "Let's support him" Sakura nodded, but refused to look at the court. It was easy to tell both players were straining themselves for the win of the first match and both were willing to do what they needed to win.

"Game and match! Rikkaidai Fuzoku's Sanada. 7 games to 5"

The cheers told Sakura the crowd was amazed by the match, but all she could think was the damage both players had done to themselves because neither would give in.

"Ryoma-kun!"

Sakura was pulled out of her thoughts by the relieved freshmen. "Ochibi" she cheered with Kikumaru

"You're late Echizen! Mou… I was so worried" Horio exclaimed

"Oishi-senpai…" Momoshiro didn't know that to say about the match

"It's just as you saw… He lost, but it's a relief you came back so quickly" Oishi sighed

"About that… We came back quickly but…" Momoshiro glanced down at the freshman regular

"Ano… There's a lot of people here… Is there an event taking place?" Ryoma asked confused

"Momo-chan… What's wrong with Ochibi?" Sakura asked worriedly "And why is he being polite to us of all people?"

"It seems that… he doesn't have any memories" he forced out surprising every one as Ryoma played with the racquet innocently

"Echizen, do you really not remember?" Oishi asked worriedly

"Huh? About what?" Ryoma asked confused

"Us! We won at the Kanto Tournament, right?" Kikumaru freaked out "And even in the Nationals! We crushed all of our opponents!"

"I'm sorry… I don't understand at all…" Ryoma apologized

"What are you saying? Echizen, didn't you also put in a great effort?" Kawamura asked

"Even though you say that… I suddenly got dragged here and I still don't know what's what…" Ryoma looked down still confused

"Don't joke around Echizen!" Kaidoh shouted as he grabbed Ryoma's jacket

"Kaidoh, Kaoru let go of him!" Sakura growled as she grabbed the second year's wrist and forcing him to release the scared freshman "I swear if you even think about hurting him…"

"Tch"

"Besides… If he forgot about tennis… the only way he would remember is by tennis" Sakura said "Haru-chan we have to do our best not just for Seigaku, but for Ochibi's sake as well"

* * *

"The second match of the National Tournament finals will begin. Seishun Gakuen's Doubles 2, Inui-Hikari pair vs. Rikkaidai Fuzoku's Double 2 Yanagi-Kirihara pair"

"Against these guys, fifteen minutes is more than enough" Kirihara grinned "Maybe even less" he chuckled as he stared at Sakura

"They always say that because I'm a girl" Sakura grumbled before cursing under her breath

"Is this also fate?" Yanagi wondered "To have to go against you again…"

"Ah" Inui agreed

"Haru-chan" Sakura glanced at her current partner, silently telling him she would hold back. Inui simply nodded in return

"Once set match, Rikkaidai Fuzoku's Yanagi to serve"

"The probability for a serve to the center, 82 percent!" Inui said as he went for the served ball

"What?!" Sakura's eyes widened as the ball curved to the right and went past Inui

"15-Love"

"Don't worry too much" Sakura smiled reassuringly as they switched places "I think I'm more comfortable back here anyway"

"The probability of a serve to the left side, 91 percent" Inui said after the following serve, Sakura followed to the left. She had always trusted Inui's data and calculation, even if he made the most deadly drinks based off of them.

The ball once again curved to the left surprising both of them.

"30-Love"

"Gomen… I should have been able to get that" Sakura apologized

"No… I should have predicted that" Inui told her "Renji… You…" Inui gasped

"Let's go, Sadaharu" Yanagi told him as he served again

"There's no mistaking it this time, the probability of a serve to the right, 99 percent" Inui said going after the serve only for it to curve to the only for it to curve to the left "It was the opposite after all! Sakura, a drop shot is coming! Go forward!" he shouted once he lobbed the ball and Yanagi appeared in front of the net

"Got it!" Sakura replied running towards the net. She gasped as Yanagi moved out of the way and showed Kirihara behind him

"Short Snake!" Kirihara shouted taking Sakura by surprise as the ball sped past her

"40-Love"

"A weakling should just act like one!" Kirihara smirked as he pointed at Sakura who slowly brought her hand up to the cut that formed as the ball grazed her cheek

"That was Kao-chan's…" Sakura gasped as she felt a sting from her cheek. Looking at her fingers she saw blood "Blood? I'm… bleeding?"

"What's wrong Sadaharu?" Yanagi asked "You look like you just woke up"

"How could you read my data?" Inui asked him

"Is it strange to you?" Yanagi asked uncaringly "The one who taught you data tennis was me…"

"I have recorded all the data related to you" Inui to him "I have absolute confidence in the numbers taken from there… But even so… You…"

"What's wrong little girl? Scared of blood" Kirihara laughed as Sakura stared at the blood on her finger tips

"Because of our childhood friendship, I'll tell you" Yanagi said as he ignored his partner "Sadaharu, you don't seem to understand the importance to reign as kings. Being invincible is a law for is, and we cannot afford to lose in the National Tournament. The experience of our defeat at the Kanto Tournament only strengthened our resolve to win. You guys have to chance of victory"

"Geez, weaklings like you have no substance. Play better tennis!" Kirihara voiced as he turned to Inui as he got bored of Sakura's reaction to her blood

"Sakura-san" Inui turned to her "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" she replied softly as she wiped blood off her cheek and grimacing at the smell of it "You want me to run around right?"

"Ah" Inui replied "But still…"

"I got it, with a sudden change like this a few games won't be much" Sakura replied quietly so only her partner could hear her

"Game Rikkadai Fuzoku. 3 games - Love"

"Sorry Sakura-san" Inui turned to her, but she just waved him off

"A few games, if it means helping you figure things out; I don't care too much" she replied dusting off her shirt and shorts.

"Hey, can't you hurry up and hit your serve?" Kirihara called out "Time's wasting!"

"That guy still…" Sakura glared across the court

"Don't get caught up Sakura-san, the data is complete" Inui said as Yanagi copied him

"Is what you would say" Yanagi finished

"Data… Data… Data" Sakura groaned out as she tuned out the conversation "Numbers… math… so confusing and annoying" she grumbled "As reliable as can be… numbers can… lie"

"Sakura-san" Inui called out to her

Easily noticing a change in her partner she shook her head "Haru-chan, let me serve. I know the data is messed up, but I'm not going to hold back now. I'll run more if needed. I didn't train to hold back once I got here"

"A-Alright" Inui replied "It wouldn't be fair, would it?"

"I'm tired of fooling around!" Sakura shouted as she threw the ball up and hit it "Ochibi! You better get yourself together soon!" The ball hit the over side of the court and curved toward Yanagi, however she wasn't even surprised he returned it

"Was that…"

"A twist serve?!"

Sakura reactively went after the ball as it past her partner and returned it. The ball disappeared over the net and reappeared at the baseline much like the serve she was known for. She didn't even glance at her surprised opponents

"15-Love"

"Sadaharu, whatever the hell happened" Sakura grunted as she served again "Snap out of it!"

"A ball like that, won't get past a red-eyed Akaya" Yanagi told her calmly

"Look out!" she call out to the dazed data collector. By the time he snapped out of it, however, he had no time to move

"I'll crush both of you" Kirihara grinned as he stepped on Inui's glasses

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked worriedly

"You're overdoing it, Akaya" Yanagi said gently as he nudged Kirihara off Inui's glasses. Sakura was sure that she would be laughing if she wasn't worried about the physical and mental state of her teammate

"Time"

"I'll go get one of your spares" Sakura said standing up

"It's fine, I'm fine" he told her

"Don't lie to me Sadaharu" Sakura's eyes narrowed at him as he walked past her "Physically you may be fine, but you're shaken mentally and it's what they want"

When Inui returned, Sakura took a deep breath. She decided to test a new serve she's been practicing on. It wasn't something she perfected yet so the chance of hitting the ball the way she wanted was low, but she didn't care. Tossing the ball up, she took her racquet in both hands and hit the ball like a baseball

"Now let's hope I got that spin and wind prediction right" She smiled

"Out, that's out!" Kirihara laughed as a breeze calmed Sakura a bit

"Actually" she giggled

"30-Love"

The Rikkaidai pair gasped as the ball landed and bounced right by Yanagi.

"Mada mada dane" she teased


	25. Devil vs Angel

"So you've been doing things like that while training huh?" Inui chuckled

"Of course!" Sakura grinned "I don't get to be on the court too often, so I need to be fancy when I can"

"I guess I shouldn't expect less from you" Inui told her "You like surprising people"

"Haru-chan, it's time to collect some new data!" Sakura grinned as she served. The ball disappeared over the net and Yanagi returned it as it reappeared

"Why do you continue this trick?" Yanagi asked

"So I can do this" Sakura giggled as she returned the ball. As Kirihara was about to return the ball, the ball appeared to jump up before spiraling downward hitting the baseline and rolling towards the net

"Like a dancing butterfly" Sakura smiled softly

"Seishun Gakuen, 1 game to 4"

With Inui no longer shaken up, it seemed that Seigaku would have a comeback and Sakura was going to do everything she could to not let her school down. They were able to get this far and although she didn't play as often as the others, she knew she could play just as well and aggressive as them. The Nationals would be her stage to show her worth. She began returning the balls harder and at faster speeds surprising everyone. The game took another turn when a ball that Sakura returned with as much force as she could put in it hit Kirihara.

"A-are you alright?!" Sakura gasped out in surprise. That ball was never meant to hit him.

"Fifteen minutes passed already. Get up you seaweed bastard!" Niou shouted at his fallen teammate

Sakura gasped as Kirihara respond to Niou's shout. He was laughing as he stood up, his hair turning white and skin turning red.

"Want me to dye you red too?" Kirihara asked her as blood dripped from his nose

"Why would someone let you play like this?" Sakura asked softly. She was sure if there was no one to help calm her, she would have been like that a long time ago.

"Get ready little girl!" Kirihara laughed as he served. The ball flew past Sakura and headed straight for Inui

"Sadaharu!" Sakura cried out worriedly as her partner hit the ground "You…" she then growled

"I'm fine" Inui groaned before getting into position again

Kirihara only continued to laugh and serve again.

"Like I'm going to let you do that again!" Sakura shouted as she returned the ball. As she rallied with Kirihara it seemed like her hair started to become lighter and her skin a bit paler. Sakura was sure that Kirihara was becoming annoyed by her as he began focusing on her rather than her partner.

Losing her grip on her racquet, the ball hit her face. She didn't even cry out as she hit the ground and she could feel everyone's gaze on her.

"Sakura-san!" Inui shouted worriedly

"Stay away!" Sakura shouted back

"Sakura!" Mizuiro shouted worriedly from Rikkaidai's side. Nothing like this happened before and she didn't know what to expect

Sakura slowly stood as she focused on the ground. Her hair had settled on a light golden blonde color and was blocking her eyes as she stood. Slowly turning to Kirihara, she revealed a blue right eye while her left eye was flickering between red and violet. "Is that all you got?" she asked switching her grip to a reverse one.

"Sakura-san-"

"Stay out of this one Inui" Sakura didn't even turn to her partner "You'll just get hurt"

"Sadaharu" Inui turned to Yanagi "This is between them now, let us not interfere"

The data collectors watched the aggressive play in amazement. The players were not even really paying attention to the score anymore. It almost appeared that Sakura was dancing as she spun around the court, almost teasing Kirihara. Kirihara put more anger behind his returns and Sakura was starting to get hit more, but she continued to get up without a single flinch.

"Tired yet, Aka-chan?" Sakura asked. Both players were panting and loosely holding onto their racquets

"Not yet" Kirihara panted

"Haru-chan, score?" Sakura asked

"A tie at 5 games" he replied

"Thanks"

"I'll dye you red and win this!" Kirihara shouted as he served

"I'm not going down without a fight!" Sakura shouted back as she quickly switched her grip to one more for baseball. She grunted as the force of the ball pushed her racquet back

"Just give up!" Kirihara laughed as he watched Sakura struggle

"Kura-chan!" she barely heard Mizuiro cheering for her "You got this!"

"_You better cheer for us louder than you cheer for Rikkadai!" Sakura grinned as Mizuiro nodded_

"_Of course" Mizuiro laughed before leaving_

"Kura-chan!"

"Sakura-senpai!"

"Saku-chan!"

"Senpai!"

Sakura found strength in the cheering from her friends and her whole school. A soft smile formed on her face "Mada mada dane" grunting as she returned the ball "…Is what he would say"

The ball bounced on the opposite side of the court surprising everyone before hitting Kirihara full on. Sakura was panting as she collapsed. Her hair, eye and skin color returned to normal. The same happening to Kirihara after he fell backwards roughly. The ball hit the wall with a force surprising Rikkaidai that she was even able to return it. Yukimura's eyes widened at the cracked dent in the wall as the ball fell to the ground weakly.

"He's unconscious" Yanagi said after checking his underclassman

"She's too exhausted to get up" Inui said as he checked on Sakura

"Haru-chan, did I do good?" Sakura asked

"You did better than even I could predict Sakura-san" Inui told her with a small smile as he picked her up carefully

"You're not hurting badly are you?" Sakura asked worriedly

"I should be asking you that" Inui chuckled "You took some pretty good hits and now you can't even stand"

Sakura frowned as both schools forfeited the match since neither school was able to continue playing. She felt so close, but so far away from winning a match in the Nationals.

"I don't want to go" Sakura grumbled as she was placed on a stretcher to be taken to the back to be checked over and then the hospital if necessary "I'm fine, I just need to rest. I promise!"

"You can't talk yourself out of this" Inui told her as he followed while the rolled her to the back

"You were amazing out there kid" Sakura turned to the man on her left

"I didn't win though" she sulked

"You didn't lose either" the man on her right chuckled

"Alright, let's have a look" the doctor on duty said once they rolled into a room "You did take some good hits. One of you, go and get some ice for that young man over there"

"I'm good to go right?" Sakura asked after she was told she didn't have a concussion and the doctor began checking where she was hit or fell "Ow"

"You're very lucky that nothing is broken or sprained young lady" she was told "But you did exhaust your body quite a bit"

"I promise to rest, may I please go and watch the rest of the matches?" Sakura begged

"I guess it's alright" the doctor sighed as Sakura cheered "but allow your body to rest, at least ice the bruising on your ribs and I'll be back with some pain reliever"

"Stay still" Inui told her as he poured water on a few pieces of gauze. He sighed as he wiped blood off her face "You're so reckless"

"Well I can't let the guys out do me" Sakura laughed as she sat up shakily

"I'm surprised to see you can sit up already" the doctor walked in as Inui threw away the bloody gauzes "Take these and you can go"

"Yay!" Sakura cheered as she drank down the pain reliever happily "Come on Haru-chan, we have to go!" She lifted her arms up showing that she wanted to be carried out

"Alright" he smiled allowing Sakura to have a piggy back ride

"Thank you Sensei!" Sakura waved to the doctor before they left

* * *

"S-shouldn't you be resting at the hospital?" Kawamura asked concerned as Inui set her down in a seat

"But then I would miss everything" Sakura pouted "If I was able to make it this far with you guys, I'm staying till the end. So, what did I miss?"

"Niou's copying Tezuka" Kikumaru told her

"Kuni-chan?" Sakura tilted her head as her eyes trailed to their captain "This should be interesting, Syu-chan was always competitive with Kuni-chan. It probably won't be the same, but this might be close enough to satisfy him"

"Kura-chan!" Mizuiro grinned as she made her way over to the Seigaku regulars

"Mi-chan!" Sakura grinned in return and tried to make her way over to her best friend, only to fall over

"Kura-chan, you have to be careful" Kikumaru scolded as he helped her back on her seat "You're supposed to be resting!"

"So careless" Mizuiro scolded as she placed her hands on her hips making her look like a mother scolding her child

"Maybe I'm just hanging with these guys too much" Sakura joked in return before turning back to the match

"Niou isn't even close enough to 'be' Tezuka" Mizuiro said after a glance

"Syu-chan is enjoying himself though… like that time" Sakura smiled

"Game Seigaku, 6 games to 5"

"Syu-kun! Ganbatte!" Mizuiro cheered

"I guess I can't use Tezuka, Kunimitsu anymore" Niou said letting his illusion go

"Actually, I'd say your illusion isn't so perfect after all" Fuji replied

"What?"

"In your service game just now" Fuji informed "You made the call with Brilliant Insight, even though you used four Zero-Shiki serves, you could have won easily. You didn't hit them- No… You couldn't hit them. It seems the illusion was just an illusion after all. But because of that illusion, I was able to bask in memories of long ago. And so it became a moment of pure appreciation for tennis. I will only say this… You cannot even trace Tezuka's footsteps."

"Then how about this?" Niou asked

"Shitenhouji's Shiraishi" Oishi gasped

"Shitenhouji?" Sakura asked "Oh… I missed that, that's right" she then sighed

"I'm sorry, but I never lose to the same opponent twice" Fuji replied to Niou "Here it goes, the sixth counter: Hoshi Hanabi"

"A sixth counter?" Kikumaru said excitedly

"He's still evolving?" Momoshiro grinned "Fuji-senpai!"

"There's no need to worry anymore" Inui smiled "I'm sure he has things well in hand"

"Mi-chan, you saw that right?" Sakura gasped out

"That was actually pretty" Mizuiro said softly

"During broad daylight… there were stars…" Ryoma said in surprise

"W-what was that?" Niou gasped "There's no way to return that"

"Game and match, Seigaku! 7 games to 5!"

"Geez I really lost" Niou grumbled "But next time, I'll get some real spirit in it!"

"I look forward to it" Fuji smiled in return before walking off the court "After this tournament is over" he then turned to Tezuka "Would you care to have another match with me?"

"Of course" Tezuka replied with a smile

"To think, after all this excitement" Sakura sighed "The fun's almost over"

"Then don't think about it, just the moment" Mizuiro laughed "Focus so you can cheer for your boyfriend"

"Alright" Sakura laughed "Go Golden Pair!" Sakura then cheered


	26. Spark

Sakura yawned as she watched her boyfriend walk off to the court. Exhaustion was creeping up on her as she began to calm down. Struggling to stay awake, she rested her head on Mizuiro's shoulder since she had taken Kikumaru's seat next to her.

"Continuing to the fourth match, we shall begin the Doubles One match"

"Senpai, are you alright?" Momoshiro asked Sakura worriedly

"I'm fine" Sakura yawned "Don't worry about me…"

"I think she fell asleep" Mizuiro giggled

"Is it really alright for her to not go to a hospital?" Kaidoh asked

"It's just bruising and exhaustion, so all she needs is rest, ice and pain medicine" Mizuiro told Kaidoh "Besides, Sakura has had worse so she'll be whining more if we force her to go"

"Rikkadai Fuzoku, Marui Bunta – Jackal Kuwahara pair"

"I'm fine" Sakura mumbled opening her eyes a bit

"Seishun Gakuen, Oishi Syuichiro – Kikumaru Eiji pair"

"Ochibi" Sakura yawned "How ya feeling?"

"Fine" Ryoma replied, unsure why he the nickname sounded familiar

"That's good" Sakura rubbed her eyes tiredly as she stood up unsteadily and grabbed his wrist "Because if some great matches didn't help your memory, we'll have to reteach you, right?"

"Kura-chan, you're in no shape for that" Mizuiro scolded as she helped her friend steady herself on her feet

"Well someone needs to do something" Sakura argued "And it's not like we can beat it out of him! I refuse to send him on the court if he can't at least hit the ball!"

"Momo-chan" Mizuiro turned to the freshman's best friend "I have an idea"

"Eiji-chan!" Sakura called out as she jumped on Momoshiro's back "Gomen, looks like I'll be busy"

"Just go help Ochibi!" Kikumaru grinned

"Go Golden Pair!"

* * *

"Alright, looks like there's muscle memory" Mizuiro nodded at Ryoma who looked at her confusedly while holding his racquet

Ochibi, your grip is too loose!" Sakura scolded from the sidelines "Tighten your grip a tad bit more!"

"Good, Momo-chan" Mizuiro turned to the confused underclassman "Play against him and don't hold back"

"W-what?" Momoshiro asked

"Going easy on him isn't going to help" Mizuiro told him "If he had his memories at the moment, he'd agree"

"Ganbatte Ochibi!" Sakura cheered while holding her bottle of soda up in the air before taking a sip

"I'm not sure if he's enough" Mizuiro said as she watched Momoshiro trying to get a frighten Ryoma to return the tennis balls "I've seen him learn while playing against others… That's it!"

"What?" Sakura turned to her best friend confused

"You guys" Mizuiro turned to the other freshmen "Get everyone he played against, explain what happened and bring them here"

"I don't get it" Sakura mumbled

"Look closely Kura-chan" Mizuiro pointed at Ryoma "That spark in his eyes are coming back"

"Spark?" Sakura squinted as Ryoma asked for Momoshiro to continue "I see it!" she then cheered noticing the confident spark Ryoma often had while playing coming back

Watching players that Ryoma had played against before Nationals appear made Sakura excited and glad while Mizuiro sighed in relief as she checked the time. Mizuiro was slightly worried about the time, not wanting Ryoma to not be able to play in the match he waited so long for. She was sure her cousin would wait, but she wasn't sure how long the officials would.

"Ochibi! Isn't tennis fun?!" Sakura shouted with a grin

Ryoma just smirked as he finished off his final opponent

"Oh I'm so glad you're better now!" Sakura cheered

"Senpai-tachi… Arigatou gozaimasu!" Ryoma bowed

"Just hurry up and go play against my cousin" Mizuiro shooed him off the court "We'll catch up"

* * *

"That kid" Sakura grumbled "He leaves before us and we still get back before him"

"So everything is fine now I take it" Ryuzaki said turning to Sakura who nodded

"Everything is all better now" Sakura smiled before turning to the court "Is he alright? What happened?"

"He must have played against Sei-chan to buy more time" Mizuiro bit her thumb

"Sei-chan! Don't you think you over did it?!" Sakura asked Rikkaidai's captain

"He seemed excited, I didn't want to disappoint" Yukimura told her

"It's scary though…" she mumbled with a frown

"What is?" Momoshiro asked

"Sei-chan's play" Sakura mumbled as Yukimura eyed her worriedly

"Sei-chan is amazing when he's serious, but it's terrifying to play against him" Mizuiro told her former team "The fact that he had been hospitalized… he's probably more serious about winning than ever"

The sound of the match beginning changed everyone's focus to the court and Sakura held onto Mizuiro's hand while watching worriedly. She had faith in the freshman who refused to lose, but playing against Rikkaidai's captain herself made her worried.

"…He changed the focus area of the aura?" Sakura gasped "And got a point?!"

"He really has taken after everyone he played against" Mizuiro smiled

"What just happened?" Oishi asked as the freshman fell on the court after a failed return

"Nee-chan… It's starting" Sakura said worriedly

"Yeah, he would have never missed that" Mizuiro quietly agreed

"Echizen!" Oishi shouted worriedly as the freshman stood up almost pouting

"Ochibi!" Kikumaru shouted "Nosebleed! Nosebleed!"

"Huh?" Ryoma wiped his nose with his hand and looked down to see blood "I didn't even notice… What? Not like it's your fault or anything" He then said after noticing Yukimura staring at him

"From the look of things" Yukimura said "I'd say your ability to sense by feel is going numb, right?"

"To think… It's only the beginning" Sakura muttered as her grip on Mizuiro's hand tightened "It only gets scarier from here"


	27. Light in Darkness

"If there's anything I regret" Sakura said "It's asking Sei-chan to play seriously with me"

"What is so scary about his tennis?" Kaidoh asked

"It starts slightly slow… but then it's like you're lost in darkness without any sense to help you find your way out" Sakura shivered at the memory "I'd say that it takes a strong will to break out, but mine was nearly broken and I've been too scared to play against him since"

"Ryuu actually almost went after Sei-chan because it gave Sakura nightmares for about a week" Mizuiro told them with a frown. Her cousin refused to play seriously with her after Sakura and Sakura tried to avoid him for a while.

"If anyone has a chance though, it's him" Sakura then said louder "He's too focused on being the best, but he loves tennis like it's the only thing he knows… He could never fear it, he fought so hard against the toughest players I've ever seen and won"

* * *

Ryoma could only question himself and what was happening as he laid on the ground, not knowing what was going on around him.

"_This is your loss, boy"_ Yukimura's voice echoed in the darkness

Ryoma began to wonder about the pain he was feeling, if tennis had always been so painful.

"_Is it fun?"_ his father's voice spoke to him through a recent memory _"Ryoma, is tennis… fun?"_

A memory struck him then. A memory of when he was a child and his father would be on the other side of the court teaching him how to play. He remembered not giving up no matter how many times he fell or even though tennis balls littered his side of the court. He would stand back up and continue giving his all.

"_If you're still trying to split the river you see with your eyes, you've got a long way to go"_ his father's voice spoke to him as the memory he saw changed to when he was training with his father in the mountains _"Look through the truth in your heart, Ryoma"_

"_Ochibi! Isn't tennis fun?!"_ Sakura's voice echoed loudly in his mind happily

* * *

"He's standing!" Sakura's let go of Mizuiro's hand as she leaned forward in her seat "Onee-chan, he's standing!"

"Nothing can get in his way, huh?" Mizuiro smiled

"Tennis is fun" Ryoma declared before something in him changed surprising everyone

"What's going on?!" Momoshiro asked

"This is… the mastery of Self-Surrender?" Fuji gasped

"The Achievement of Flawless Unity?!" Sakura heard

Watching the ball bounce on Yukimura's side of the court made Mizuiro gasp "I-I didn't see anything"

"This is unbelievable" Sakura gasped as Ryoma quickly began gaining points and then a game "I never thought I'd see anything like this!"

"I've never seen Sei-chan like this" Mizuiro said surprised while Ryoma began turning the match around

"Yo, Baa-san"

Sakura turned to see a man wearing traditional clothing walking up to Ryuzaki

"Looks like your son reached the same place you did, Nanjirou" Ryuzaki smiled without turning around

"Wait, Samurai Nanjirou?!" Horio exclaimed

"Samurai Nanjirou?" Sakura asked confused why the name sounded familiar to her

"You mean… Ryoma's father was the legendary tennis player?!" Kachirou gasped

"Ah!" Sakura shouted pointing at Ryoma's father ignoring that he was explaining to her team that anyone could reach 'Flawless Unity' as it was simply like enjoying and playing tennis as if it was the first time again.

"Hm?" Nanjirou turned to her

"Najio-ji-chan!" Sakura shouted

"Najio-ji… Oh! You're Len's niece!" He laughed remembering when she had trouble saying his name and refused to just only say 'Uncle'

"Y-You know him?!" Horio exclaimed

"He's and old classmate and friend of my dad's brother" Sakura grinned "He played tennis with me a bit when I was staying with Uncle Len" Turning back to the court Sakura grinned, She was going to enjoy the rest of the match and catch up later with her favorite Uncle's best friend.

"Samurai Drive!" Ryoma shouted as he returned the ball with a new move

"Is.. Is playing with a split ball even legal?" Sakura asked confused

"Well… There's no rules against it and it doesn't look like they are having problems" Mizuiro said wondering as well as her cousin returned both halves.

Everyone watched amazed as Ryoma returned them easily and won.

"Won…" Sakura said to herself surprised "He won… He won! Ochibi! That was amazing!" Rushing onto the court with her teammates, she made sure she got to tackle him in a hug first

"Omedetou! Seigaku!" Mizuiro cheered as she rushed over as well

Sakura almost couldn't keep still during the awards ceremony and continued grinning while Tezuka accepted the flag, showing that Seishun Gakuen won the Nationals.

* * *

Sakura looked around Kawamura Sushi with a grin, winning the Nationals caused the place to be livelier than ever. Constant cheers filled the area and Sakura wondered if she'd ever see a sight like this again.

"This isn't the end, you know" Mizuiro told her "We'll all meet up again one day and this place will be like this again because Seigaku will win another National"

"That's true!" Sakura agreed and cheered with her team "This team will always find its way back together!"


	28. Osaka

"Wait, we're going where?" Sakura asked confused as she looked around the Osaka area, it was a little familiar to her since a cousin of hers lives somewhere in the area

"Shitenhouji invited us for a practice match" Oishi reminded her

"I was hoping for a break after Nationals" Sakura muttered

"Actually Sakura-san, you won't be participating" Inui told her "since you're still recovering"

"Bruising isn't that bad-" she mumbled before Inui poked a particularly sensitive spot "Ow!"

"You're just here to keep Ryuzaki-sensei company" Momoshiro laughed

"How boring" Sakura muttered as she began to follow everyone as they made their way to Shitenhouji

* * *

"So this is Shitenhouji Middle School?" Kikumaru asked surprised

"Interesting location" Sakura voiced while holding his hand

"Their school is located in a temple?" Horio asked confused

"Looks like there's no mistaking it" Oishi smiled as he read the sign on the side

"Hey!" Sakura turned to see a small redhead shouting to get their attention "You better hurry up before the bell rings!"

"Hey Kintaro!" Momoshiro shouted

"The bell rings even during the summer holiday?" Fuji questioned

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Kintarou continued

"Let's just hurry up" Oishi said before jogging

"Naniwa's speed star is a step ahead of you!" Sakura heard as someone ran past them

"Oshitari!" Momoshiro shouted

"Ken-chan!" Sakura grinned before tackling down the cousin of her friend excitedly "Ken-chan, I forgot you were here!"

"Sakura-chan!" Kenya grinned before turning so his back would hit the sign at the gate

"I missed you so much!" Sakura continued oblivious that she could have gotten more hurt "You were always more fun than Yuu-kun!"

"You're still naive" Momoshiro turned to see Shiraishi running towards them before jumping over them "Ahh ecstas-"

Everyone just stared up above them as Shiraishi's face slammed into the top of the gate before falling

"Could it possibly be" Inui gasped

"…Them falling on purpose?" Kikumaru asked surprised

"Our main gate at Shitenhouji" Shiraishi said as he stood up while rubbing his face "is a sacred place, also known as the Grappling Main Gate"

"One cannot simply walk through it" Kenya finished while standing up with Sakura clinging on him happily

"Shiraishi and Kenya, too. You're both getting too fired up over this" Kintaro laughed "I don't know if today's practice will be too much for you to handle"

"Wait! Wait!" Seigaku turned to see Hitouji slowly chasing after his partner

"If you catch me… I'll give you a kiss!" Konjiki giggled in a dress with fake breasts while the bell rang "Wait a minute!" he then shouted shaking his partner angrily "It's your fault that we're late, isn't it?! It's because you're so slow!"

"B-but!" Hitouji gasped pulling out a bouquet of roses "Wasn't it you who wanted to play the 'Springtime of Love' skit, Koharu?"

"T-that was…" Konjiki gasped "Well, whatever! We may be late, but at least we made somebody laugh"

"Nobody laughed though" Kaidoh cut in annoyed before Fuji chuckled and Sakura fell backwards laughing

* * *

Sakura yawned as she stood next to the coaches. She refused to admit it, but she was still tired for the Nationals. Naniwa's Baka Couple did their best to keep her awake with jokes between messing up the players on the court, but she became too tired to even pay attention. She could barely remember being picked up by Kikumaru due to being half-asleep when they finished. After a quick way back to the Inn to allow Sakura to rest in the room she was sharing with Ryuzaki, the rest of the club took the time to wander around.

After returning, Ryuzaki woke Sakura up to take a bath and eat before allowing her to make her way back to her futon to sleep more. Sakura felt sure that she would be rested enough by the next day and that her body would feel rested enough within the next few days. Snuggled with her teddy bear that Kikumaru had recently gave her, Sakura eventually fell into a deep sleep. A deep sleep that would help give her energy for the next day and she didn't want to wake up until then. However, the adjourning room that the boys were staying in had become too noisy and woke her up from a nice dream. Mumbling to her coach that whoever woke her would die, she slammed open the door scaring everyone while their coach went back to sleep.

"S-senpai…" Momoshiro chuckled nervously. He was sure that if she wasn't pissed off, everyone would be commenting how cute she looked in her pajamas. Sakura glared at everyone while hugging her teddy bear tightly. Her hair was slightly messy from tossing a bit before waking up and her pink nightgown that reached her knees, that Kikumaru was sure her mother packed, gave her a cute childish look, but the glare she was giving contrasted with how she appeared.

"Today was the first day that I could walk anywhere without worrying about falling over randomly" Sakura said softly "All I want is to be able to sleep right now, but I got woken up by shouting. So, someone better explain why I had to come over here right now"

"They wanted to steal our room" Sakura heard a freshman say "We were trying to protect it!" Sakura slowly turned towards the members of Higa's tennis team

"Seriously?" she said angrily "Your team has pissed me off before and right when I thought there was a change you do this?!"

Walking over to the captain and gripping his shirt, she dragged him over to the door leading to the hallway and threw him out roughly. Leaving the door open, she surprised her teammates by literally throwing the others out roughly as well.

"Next time ask _nicely_ to share instead of being noisy jerks" Sakura shouted "If you can't stand the heat, you should have been smarter with the money you overspent!" Slamming the door shut she stomped back to the room she was sharing and slid the door shut softly after a quick goodnight to everyone before crawling back under her blanket and going back to sleep

"…She just threw them all out" Kaidoh said surprised

"…Without letting go of her teddy bear" Kawamura finished. After a moment of awkward silence, everything settled down again allowing the ones who were tired to go to sleep.

"I-I've never seen Kura-chan like that" Kikumaru stuttered "But she looked so cute, nya!"

"Mizuiro-san once said that Sakura-san gets really cranky if she's exhausted and woken up, especially without a good reason" Inui stated looking at his notebook "Though, looks like cranky is just putting it lightly" shutting his notebook closed his glasses flickered nervously.


End file.
